


Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy

by SatanSenpie



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Horses, Reader Insert, Several instances of smut, The title is supposed to insinuate that so you can count on it, its a little bit educational about horses so hey you can learn something here, reader's personality is kinda predetermined sorry about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-01-18 05:44:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 36,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12382095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatanSenpie/pseuds/SatanSenpie
Summary: You were born on a farm, with a love for horses and an indifference for the city. You see a television ad for a summer camp by the name of Camp Campbell. Horseback riding is a camp offered. Fresh out of college with your associates, you need a job. Camp counselor doesn't seem so bad.





	1. Ad Appeal

You sat in your tiny apartment, flipping through the few channels you had on your grainy television. Suddenly, a commercial for a kids' camp plays. It was horrible quality, but you remembered also seeing an ad for it in the paper. You were far too old to be a camper, but perhaps you could get a job there as a counselor. After all, you had seen "Horseback Riding Camp" among the massive list of camps offered. 

Being raised on a farm, you knew you were more than capable of instructing it. You were extremely strong, both physically and mentally. You could read any horse like a book, and you were bull-headed and headstrong. If you could coax a 1500+ pound animal to do as you please, some kids should be no problem. You grabbed your phone, copying down the number. It took forever, but it picked up a connection and began to ring. About two rings later, someone picked up.

"Good morning! Thank you so much for calling Camp Campbell. My name is David!" A male voice, sweet as honey and warm as summer answered. You recognized it from the commercial. "H-Hi, my name is (Your Name)." "Well, howdy (y/n)! How are you doin'?" "I'm doing good," you answered instinctively, surprised to be asked this on this type of phone call. "How are you?" "I'm doing just dandy today! How can I help you on this bea--utiful day? Would you like to sign your kiddo up for one of our camps?" "No, actually, I was interested in applying to be a counselor there," you said. David gasped with joy. "That's excellent! Come down to our camp whenever you can. We're open all day." You looked at your watch. "How about 4 o' clock today?" You asked. "Perfect! I'll be looking forward to meeting you, Miss (y/n)! Buh-bye now!" "Goodybe," you replied. You wondered if everyone at the camp was like that. You didn't think you could be as sugary sweet as he was... but something about him made you smile, and you hadn't even met him yet.

Since it was already three in the afternoon, you decided you should get ready now, since it would take you about a half hour to get there. 

You were already wearing a pair of blue jeans, socks, and an old t-shirt, but you decided to make yourself a little more presentable; by putting on a gray flannel and taking a wet paper towel to scrub the caked on layers of dirt from your boots. You grabbed your keys, letting yourself out the door, the heels of your boots clip-clopping like a horse's hooves as you walked. You climbed into your truck, which you had to literally jump into, because the shocks on it made it much taller than you. It was an old and dirty truck, but it got you anywhere you needed to go. Besides, you much preferred to drive this old thing around than a fancy car anyway. 

You started up the engine and departed for Camp Campbell. Your 5-minute preparation gave you plenty of time to enjoy the ride as you left town and got into the wilderness. You rolled down all your windows, flipping down the sun blocker above your head and looking at your reflection in the mirror on it. Your (Color) hair was blowing in the wind, and you took a moment to comb your fingers through it. After putting on your sunglasses, you flipped the sun blocker back up, turning up your car's radio and blasting your favorite band. 

You arrived with about 10 minutes to spare. You figured it was cordial to show up a little early. You rolled up your windows and turned down your radio as you slowed to turn into the long driveway that led to the camp. Eventually, you saw a tiny station wagon and figured you were in the right place. You parked next to it, snickering as you opened the door to see your truck towering over the little car. You shut the door and locked it with your key fob, heading toward the large wooden cabin. You felt your hair bounce with the new-found volume the wind gave it, and hoped you looked presentable enough. You put your key in your pocket and knocked on the door. 

A tall, lanky man answered it almost immediately, smiling brightly at you. You already knew who it was based on his joyful expression. "Hello! You're (y/n), correct?" he held out his hand for you to shake. You smiled, grabbing his hand and shaking it. "Yes I am." "Excellent! Come on in." He held the door open for you for you to walk inside, which you weren't accustomed to, but you thanked him anyway and stepped inside. Your boot heels thunked on the wooden floor, resonating off the walls and roof of the cabin, louder than you would've liked. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to two big plush chairs. He sat in the one beside the chair you chose, grabbing a clipboard and paper off his desk. "So, tell me about yourself!" He said, smiling brightly at you.

Now that you were inside, you took off your sunglasses and put them in your shirt pocket, bringing your (Color) eyes to meet his teal ones. "Well, I was born and raised on a farm, and took care of all sorts of animals. Chickens, goats, sheep, cows, horses, you name it. I had several barn chores every morning so you won't have to worry about me being lazy or behind schedule. I work very well under pressure, especially with horses, so if something were to happen I'd have it under control. And, uh... my favorite color is (f/c)." David had been watching you, smiling and nodding. "That's fantastic! You sound like the perfect match." He wrote a few things down on his clipboard, and set it down. "Well, let's get you introduced to the campers!"


	2. First Day

"So I'm hired?" You asked, brows raised in disbelief. "Of course you are!" David grinned, standing. "Like I said, you're a perfect match here!" You stood awkwardly in surprise. A good surprise, you decided. You stared into his teal eyes, and finally returned the smile. "Alright," you said. "Let's go meet the kids, then."

David joyfully led you out of the cabin toward the mess hall, where he said the kids were in "History Camp." You shrugged inwardly and followed. He gleefully burst through the doors, catching everyone's attention. "Attention Camp Campbell Campers!" He beamed. You awkwardly stepped in behind him, scanning the room. There wasn't a whole lot of kids, but more than you expected from the small town. The counselor writing on the board looked just as disinterested as the kids were, so they were all excited for a change of subject. "I'd like you to meet our new counselor, (y/n)!" He gestured to you. You sheepishly waved, not expecting such an introduction.

"Hi there, (y/n)! Came a muffled, nasally voice. You saw a kid dressed in a astronaut costume waving at you. You waved back with a smile. A girl with mint green hair stood up. "Ooh! You're dirty!" she said, louder than she probably intended. "You must like nature!" You blinked. "Yeah, I love nature," you finally replied. "Yes!" The girl exclaimed, "Finally!" "Now campers, let's finish up History Camp and we can all get acquainted with (y/n) then." The kids collectively groaned, turning back to the board. You stood with David behind the children, wondering when you would get assigned to your own part of the camp to attend to the horses. It wasn't that you disliked kids, but that was what you signed up for. 

After what felt like an eternity, History Camp was dismissed and the kids ran to a nearby counter to receive their dinner. You, David, and the other counselor stayed behind, taking a seat at an empty table. "Hey there," said the other counselor; she unenthusiastically offered her hand. You shook it, nodding. "I'm (y/n), glad to be working here with you." She nodded in return "I'm Gwen." 

As the kids ate, you, David and Gwen sat at the table and began discussing the job. "So, where are the horses?" You asked. The two of them paused. "Well..." David trailed off. "We have one. But he's really old," Gwen finished. You raised your brow. "So will I be working with him all day? One camper at a time?" David bit his lip. "Well, actually, us counselors here tend to all of the camp activities." He smiled nervously. You blinked, looking around at the kids. You decided you could work with that... "May I see the horse?" "Dinner isn't over for another 45 minutes... so, sure!" David said. "Quartermaster, you're in charge!" David shouted, leading you and Gwen out the door. The old, intimidating looking man behind the counter serving the kids just snorted in respone.

After a brief walk, you came upon a really rickety stable, with a white horse in a small pasture nearby. There was a small fenced-in circle where you assumed the lessons were to take place. You blinked in shock. "This is your setup?" You asked, turning to David. David rubbed his shoulder. "Well... yes! Our horse is quite happy here! He just does whatever he wants... You know, 'cause we have nobody to teach riding lessons, since neither of us knows how to ride a horse." You looked between the two counselors. "Well, I can take care of that problem. But, being raised on a farm and all, I feel it necessary to point out some... serious flaws you have here." David lifted his brows in surprise. "Okay... what's wrong?" he asked. 

"Well, first of all," you began, walking to the fenced-in ring. You pointed at it. "This ring is WAY too small. And," you kicked the fence, and it crumbled beneath your foot. "This wood is rotten to the core. Extremely hazardous for horse and rider." Both the counselors eyes widened. For a moment you wondered if you were being too bold, but your knowledge that this wasn't safe overpowered any feeling that you were being rude.

You made your way over to the pasture, snatching up a handful of long grass and easily hopping the fence. "Second, this fence is way too short. When this horse runs out of grass, or something wanders into his field, he WILL jump this fence. And since you guys have bears here, I highly suggest you make it at LEAST six feet tall, and electrify it." You observed their further surprised faces, and made your way to the horse. 

It picked up its head and flicked its ears, only turning its head toward you. You pet it for a moment, holding out your handful of grass and feeding it. You then tickled its upper lip, causing it to pucker up at you in a silly way. You looked at its front teeth. "Third, this horse is not that old. Maybe 17 at the oldest." The horse resumed chewing. You walked around to the back of the animal, pulling its tail to the side.

"And fourth," you added, rather loudly. "This is a mare." You shot the two counselors a look, who now just looked confused. You huffed. "That means it's a girl." David's jaw dropped. You made your way back toward them.

"And last, but not least, this horse is not only bored, but she's a pack animal. You should have more than one horse here." You crossed your arms, leaning on the fence and staring at David from the other side. "W-what.. What do... Umm.. How..?" He tried to construct a sentence. "I'll tell you what," you began, raising your hand in offer. "I'll go home today and come back with some wood and some supplies tomorrow and build this poor mare a proper pasture. That's priority number one. Number two, I'm going to rebuild that ring to make it much bigger, and add on some new stalls to that stable, because I'm bringing a couple mares over from my farm. A single horse cannot do multiple lessons back to back."

David only blinked. You ducked beneath the fence and stood before him, somewhat proud of yourself for surprising him out of his happy-go-lucky demeanour. "Starting tomorrow, we're having construction camp," you grinned, taking your key out of your pocket and swinging it around your finger as you walked past them to your truck, pulling your sunglasses over your eyes.


	3. Can We Fix It?

You showed up the next morning at 6 am with the bed of your truck filled with wood, tools, and other odds and ends you figured you could use. You drove past the station wagon and went right to the horse's pasture. You shut your engine off, hopping out and visualizing what you would do. You decided you would expand the pasture by a significant amount, building the new fence around the existing one and tearing down the old one after the new one was complete. You grabbed a can of spray paint and a roll of measuring tape from your truck, beginning to mark the ground every six feet.

It took you an hour to lay out where you wanted everything to go; now the real work began. You grabbed a chainsaw from your truck, and began to pull the startup wire. As if on cue, you suddenly heard a familiar voice screaming in terror. "Please don't kill me! I'm sorry!" You stopped, looking down to see David crumpled on the ground. Half of you wanted to laugh, but the other half felt horrible looking at his genuine horror. You set the saw down on the open bed of your truck and knelt down by him. 

"Hey, it's okay, everything's alright," you soothed, gently touching him and rubbing his arm. "I'm just getting reading to start working is all." David peeked out from behind his hands, nervously laughing. "Aha, um, right..." He cleared his throat. "I didn't know you were planning on using a chainsaw... I thought you were going to gut me for abusing the horse," he shrugged guiltily. You chuckled, helping him up. "No no no," you smiled. "This horse is not abused, I'm just being highly critical is all. This horse this really living the dream; I'm just concerned for her safety." David smiled. "Thank god. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about it." You tilted your head and tsked in sympathy. "Of course not. If this horse was abused, I wouldn't let you live to think about it," you laughed. He nervously laughed along, and you wondered if that even helped. To help lighten the mood, you tapped his forearm. "Want me to fill you in on my plan so far?" He immediately perked up, going back to his happy self again, and you felt your heart relax."Yes! Tell me all about it!"

You told him your plan to build the current fence around the old one and expand it, and the whole time you explained he listened carefully and nodded. "So, what are you going to build the fence with?" He asked. "Well, that's where this chainsaw comes in," you said. "I'm going to cut down some trees, and cut them into twelve-foot sections. I'll dig narrow holes six fit deep and put the logs into it, so six feet of it sticks out of the ground and is very strong and sturdy. I figured I would build this addon to the camp with resources from the camp." He nodded, smiling. "That's brilliant, actually!" You smiled, laughing softly. "The kids won't be up for another hour, and neither will Gwen, so can I help you in any way?" "You can actually!" You said, grateful and he wasn't just going to leave you to do all of this yourself. "I need help picking out trees, about a foot in diameter each, and also hauling them into a pile." "Gladly!" he grinned. "Normally I would go get my axe, but I see you have it handled," he gestured to the chainsaw, causing you both to laugh.

In about an hour, you had a surprising amount of work done. You had about ten trees cut and stacked, and you decided to take a breakfast break. You both walked together to the Mess Hall, meeting Gwen there with all the kids, and made the announcement of today's "Construction Camp" Activity. Some of the kids seemed excited about it, others not too enthused, but nobody had to be forced out to the pasture after breakfast. You explained your plans, and eventually had the whole camp in two separate groups: Find and cutting trees, and stacking and cutting the trees to size. By the end of the day, you figured you had more than enough to border the fence you had planned; but you enjoyed spending time with the Happy-Go-Lucky counselor so much that in your head, you decided that the fence around the riding ring would be made of these as well. Part of you suspected that David knew about that new plan... But you could care less. The work was hardly any strain on your body, but all the kids and Gwen were sore by dinnertime and you decided that Construction Camp would only be mandatory once a week; After all, it was probably for the best that you could work by yourself sometimes. 

The next day, you drove to the pasture at 6 am once again, and noticed David was there already. "Good morning, co-counselor!" he grinned, his eyes smiling. You smiled back. "Good morning!" You returned. Most people would wake up at the hours you did and need a cup of coffee to get the day going; you, for one, hated the taste, but you could power through the day just fine. However, it seemed like this morning you had an extra boost of energy, like you figured coffee might do to you. Maybe David was your cup of coffee. 

Today you had brought a sort of "drill" specifically for the purpose of making holes for fence posts. You taught David how to use it and took turns, sticking the tape measure down there every once in a while to measure. Once you hit six feet, you beckoned him over to help you bring a log over. It took a minute to explain to him the procedure of standing the log upright in the hole, but eventually you did it, and the log landed in the hole with a satisfying thunk! David looked up and grinned with pure joy. "We did it!" he exclaimed. You giggled at his joy. "Only all the rest of 'em to go!" "Yay!" You giggled at his enthusiasm. "Alright, fence buddy," you said. "Back to work." "Okay then, fence buddy," David chuckled, playfully poking you. Yeah. He was like your cup of coffee.


	4. Fence Buddy

Every morning you arrived at the camp, David would be waiting for you, happy as always. It put you in a good mood as well, and you looked forward to coming by and working. 

"Say, co-counselor," David said one morning after you successfully planted another log and secured it it in the ground. "Please, call me (y/n)," you said, smiling at him. He smiled back. "Alright then, (y/n). We have plenty of spare cabins around here. How would you like to move into one of them so you don't have to make the drive every day?" You stood straighter, dusting off your jeans. You wondered if this was a typical counselor privilege or he was offering this to you especially. Either way, you smiled as his teal eyes searched yours with a smile. "I would love to," you said, leaning on the log you'd just put in place."Excellent!" David cheered, eyes sparkling. "I'll show you to your cabin after breakfast." 

As you two walked together to the Mess Hall, you looked behind you at the progress you had made so far. When you first met him, you thought he'd probably just leave you to do this all yourself. Not that you minded, because you perfectly capable of it. But it warmed your heart that he went out of his way to help you. He never complained or said that he was sore. He went along eagerly with anything you told him to do, giving you plenty of smiles to brighten your day. 

You followed him into the Mess Hall, getting your serving of pancakes from the quartermaster. His hook prosthetic was replaced with a spatula that he was using to cook and serve pancakes. It was a little off-putting, but the kids seemed to be enjoying it, so you got your serving and sat with David by a table of kids.

A child with dark skin, big curly black hair, and piercing aqua eyes glared at you. "So who the hell are you?" He asked. You chuckled inwardly. "I'm (y/n)." "What do you even do here? I barely see you." "Still building that horse pasture." "Why?" "Because unless you want to see what a bear attack looks like on a horse, I'll be making it a lot better." The kid blinked, raising his brows for just a moment before dropping them again. "(y/n) is making some huge changes to Horseback Riding Camp! Including the fact that you kids will be able to actually attend it." David smiled, looking to you. You nodded. "I'll teach you guys some stuff about riding and horses and some other things as well. "But anyway, who are you?" You asked him, cutting off a piece of your stack of pancakes and biting into it. "Max." he answered, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth. "Nice to meet you, Max." You said, offering him your hand. He looked you up and down before quickly taking it, shaking it, and quickly returning it to his side. 

Throughout breakfast, you got acquainted with Nikki and Neil, who were much more interested in talking. Especially Nikki. Since today was the day you decided to have the kids help, everyone went out to the pasture. A couple of the kids got distracted and "snuck off" to feed the horse carrots and apples. 

David was your fence buddy once again, sticking by you the whole time, asking questions and just being overall enthused about everything. Gwen was watching the campers to make sure nobody hurt themselves while cutting the logs to size. "So, tell me, (y/n)... How were you able to find out how old our... nair... was? I saw how you found out it was a girl, but... not how you found the age." You laughed audibly. "It's mare. And I could tell by looking at her teeth," you explained. He raised a brow. "Her teeth? How?" "Horses' teeth change with their age. I've been around 'em enough to know the difference." "Huh," David grinned. "How interesting! I learned something new today." You chuckled, yanking the cord on your chainsaw and slowly cutting down another tree, taking out a wedge first. "Timber!" you yelled, your voice traveling far from practing calling cattle. You kicked the tree, giving it a headstart. Once it fell, you sawed or kicked off the branches and set down your chainsaw. As per the routine, David picked up the log on one side while you grabbed the other. Before you could get it off the ground, he yipped in pain, letting go.

"What's wrong?" You asked, walking up to him. "Splinter," he whined, his eyes glossy with tears. "Let me see it," you said, grabbing his hand and scanning his fingers. You spotted it on the tip of his index finger. Almost by instinct, you brought his finger to your lips, gripping the splinter between your teeth. Suddenly you looked over at David's eyes, which were wide as saucers. His face was bright red. You quickly plucked the splinter, causing him to jump. "O-Ouch!" he yelped. You spit out the splinter, chuckling nervously. "Uh, sorry, that's how I always pull out splinters..." you muttered. "I-It's okay! My finger feels better now." he said, holding up his finger. "Thank you!" He added, the blush still on his cheeks. You chuckled, "I'll bring some work gloves tomorrow." "Sounds like a plan, co-counselor (y/n)," he said, picking up the log with you again. You swallowed so hard you thought you swallowed your heart. Something about the way he looked at you a moment ago sent off a flurry of butterflies in your stomach. That was probably really inappropriate, and rather... sexual... of you to just stick his finger in your mouth. In your defense, it wasn't like you had any tweezers. 

You both hauled the log on top of a stack to be cut. You transitioned to digging holes for the posts, since the stack to be cut to length was a little backed up. To your surprise, he still followed you. You thought he might back out after that. You took turns with him like before, watching as he pushed and turned the crank on the tool, pretending not to be staring. You had just finished your fifth hole when it was time for lunch. It was some goopy and questionable-smelling mac and cheese, but David was gobbling it up, so you assumed it was safe to eat. He left and returned with a second helping, and you giggled. "Worked up an appetite, huh?" you smiled. He nodded happily. "Yup! And it's all worth it! I'm so glad you're here with us, Camp Counseler (y/n)!" he smiled. Though this time, his tone was a little more personal. You smiled back, eating your own food.

After lunch, David convinced you to take the rest of the day off. The kids were taking a day to swim, and it was a rather hot day. Since you had all the extra help, you were farther ahead than you had planned, so you gave in to his pleas and accepted. You hadn't brought any swimsuit, but David brought you a t-shirt just like the one he was wearing. It was a little big and trapped all the heat, so you bunched it up just below your ribs and secured it with a hair tie. After the kids had changed, gathered their towel and put on sunscreen, you, David and Gwen led them all down to the beach by the small dock. Gwen set up a chair and began reading a magazine, while you took off your shoes and watched as David walked out to the end of the dock, setting his hands on his hips and watching the kids swim and play. You smirked as a devious idea formed in your head. You sprinted full speed down the dock, grabbing David's arm as you sprang off the end. "Plug your nose!" You shouted, curling up into a ball with the exception of the arm you were yanking David with. He let out a high pitched shriek, silenced when you both hit the water. 

You pushed off the bottom, breaking the surface and laughing. David surfaced seconds later, panicking until he saw you. He aggressively splashed you, giving you an evil smirk. You splashed back, giggling. Suddenly he dove beneath the water, and you searched for where he went, but the dirt you had kicked up blocked anything from view. You heard something behind you, and turned to see David with his cheeks puffed up. He blew a stream of water in your face, getting a scream from you. "Oh, you're dead!" You shouted with a grin, lunging at him and causing both of you to go below the surface. When you surfaced, you realized that your legs were latched around his waist and your hands on his shoulders. His hands had a grip on your back, and you both looked into each other's eyes, realizing your position at the same time. 

He blushed furiously, about to say something. Little did he know, you were prepared for revenge. You spat a stream of water right in his face, getting a laugh from him. "Alright, that's it!" He laughed. An evil smile took over his face and you were suddenly concerned. His grip on you became tighter, and he began wading to shore. Suddenly you were out of the water, still clinging to him as he walked to the end of the dock. "Wait, no! No no no!" You yipped, trying to secure your grip on his wet, slippery skin. "Plug your nose!" he yelled, throwing you off the dock as you screamed.

Beneath the water, you heard another muffled splash. When you surfaced, he was there once again. "Alright, smartass!" you giggled. He hadn't finished laughing yet. You swam over to him, clinging to his back this time. "Go on, horsie. Hyah!" you pretending to whip the reins, "spurring" him on his hip. He made his best impression of a horse, which was horrible, and swam forward. "Where to?" he asked. "Damn, a talking horse! Take me to the dock." He made his horse impression again, turning and taking you to the dock. You hoisted yourself on it, "unknowingly" giving him an unnecessarily good view of your rear. You pretended to tie him to the post on the dock. "You stay here," you instructed him, pretending not to notice his blush. You left and returned with a bottle of sunscreen, squeezing some onto your fingertip and rubbing his cheeks and nose with it. "Looks like you're getting some sun on your cheeks, my stallion!" You declared. He blinked. "O-Oh, yeah, sun," he chuckled nervously, leaning forward into your touch. You smirked, leaving a dollop on his forehead. You rubbed some on your own face, jumping back in the water with him. You mounted him again, telling him to take you somewhere else. Eventually, he just wandered where he wanted to.

Your hands slithered around his neck, resting your chin in the crook of his neck. "Looks like my rider is tired out." he smiled. You didn't reply. You felt like you were in high school again. You were glad he convinced you to take the rest of the day off.

Dinner and evening activities were a blissful blur. The day was ended with a mini campfire. When the last of the kids were in their tents, David walked you to your cabin. "Goodnight, David," you smiled, about to open the door to your cabin. "Goonight, fence buddy," he smiled sweetly.


	5. More Than Fence Buddies

The next morning, you woke up extra early to drive yourself back to your farm home to get a few pairs of work gloves. While you were there, you loaded up a few lead ropes, some bridles, a couple grooming kits, and a saddle. You sighed inwardly. You missed this place so much. But your apartment was just closer to the college you had attended. You walked around and visited some of the farm animals, petting them and addressing them by their names, before going to the horse's stalls. Most of them were up already. You scanned them, deciding which ones to take with you one the construction was done. You decided on a very sweet and loving strawberry roan named Lucy, and a chestnut with a star marking named Desi. You walked up to all of them, giving them a loving pet on the nose and scratch behind their ears. Your parents would be out in about an hour to take them to the pasture. You decided to leave a nice note, stating that you were having fun at your new job and came home to get a few things. You also mentioned that the reception was very poor there, but you would call them when you could. With that, you closed up the bed of your truck and hopped in. 

When you made it back to the camp, you took your truck back to its usual spot. You expected to see David standing there waiting like always, but he wasn't there. You looked at the clock in your trucks. You were on time. Did he decide he didn't feel like helping anymore? Were you too bold yesterday..? Your heart sunk. It looked like you didn't have a fence buddy anymore. You sluggishly got out of your truck. 

All of your supplies were already out in the forest, so you made your way to them. Suddenly, you heard crying in the distance. You recognized it immediately as David, and took off sprinting toward his voice. "David! I'm coming!" you hollered. You saw his bright yellow bandana through the trees, finally making it to him. 

He was laying on the ground, his left foot stuck under a fallen log. He ax laid on the ground a few feet away. Tears were flowing heavily down his cheeks. His eyes, nose and cheeks were completely red, and his ankle looked twisted. You immediately moved to the log, lifting it just enough to free his foot. It didn't look bent out of shape, but you weren't about to risk it. You scooped him up, running back to the camp.

He latched onto you, his cheeks becoming even redder, his already irritated eyes leaking more tears as he tried to breathe through the pain. You made it to your cabin, having to balance him a bit to open the door. You slammed it with your foot, and sat him on the bed. You knelt and started to unlace his boot, noting him tensing up. "David, try to relax, okay?" You said, looking up to him. His wet, teal eyes looked into yours, as he tried to control his breathing. He winced and whimpered and twitched as you took off his boot as gently as you could, rolling his sock down his foot. His ankle was already swollen, but it didn't look broken. You prodded at his foot and ankle with your fingers, checking for broken bones. "It's not broken, just sprained," you told him, looking up at him. You noticed he was covering his eyes. 

"Hey, it's alright, it's not the end of the world. It's just a twisted ankle," You said, moving to sit by him, turning his face to look at you. You wiped a tear away. "I-It's not that," he sniffled, turning his eyes away. "I just... I wanted to help out and give you a head start for the day." His lip continued to tremble. "Now I've just made everything worse." You put both hands either side of his face. "Hey," you said softly. He stared down at the floor. "Hey, look at me," you whispered. He finally looked up at you, tears spilling down onto your thumbs. You wiped them as they came. 

"You haven't made anything worse. That was so sweet of you to do that. You could've just waited or just left me to do it by myself. But instead you took it upon yourself work ahead before I even got here. I appreciate that. But sometimes things go wrong, bad things happen, and you end up getting hurt," you said. 

He sniffed. "I wish I could just be perfect like you, and do everything right." Your brows furrowed, and you scooched closer to him. "David, you think I do everything right? That's the farthest thing from truth ever," you said. He blinked in confusion. "Do you know how many times I've whacked myself in the head because I wasn't paying attention? Or fallen off, or gotten bucked off, of a horse? Or ground working a horse and whipped myself by accident? Or being kicked because I wasn't doing something right? Or made a mistake when building something, and all my horses got out, and I had to spend the whole day looking for them?" You smiled as you told him this. "David, I've broken a bone on every single one of my limbs at some point in my life. My fingers and feet are calloused, I have scars all over me, and I've knocked one of my teeth out. I still thank my lucky stars that it was a baby tooth," you added. "I'm the farthest thing from perfect there's ever been."

He smiled, glancing to the side before looking back at you. "I still think you're pretty perfect." He blushed. You tried to contain your blushing smile. To keep him from seeing it, you did the first thing that came to your find. You leaned forward, while pulling his face toward you, pressing your lips against his. His eyelids fluttered closed, and you felt him relax and return the kiss. When you pulled back, both of your faces were red as roses. He giggled, sniffling, and you snicked giddily as well, still holding his face. You kissed him again, and again, and again, as you both laughed together. "I think I feel a little bit better now," he smiled, his eyes starting to dry. You smiled back. "I'll go get you some ice... fence buddy," you said, standing and leaving the cabin. As you went to the mess hall, you giggled like a fool to yourself, going into the freezer and getting one of the many ice packs they kept on hand. 

When you returned, he was sitting a little more comfortably, his tears gone and his smile returning. You pressed the ice pack with a rag between it and his skin, noticing him looking at you in your peripherals. "(y/n)," he began, and you looked up at him with a smile. "Hm?" "I-I was wondering if... if you... i-if you'd like to be... more than fence buddies?" he asked, scratching behind his head as his face glowed pink, flashing a nervous smile. You grinned. "Of course I would," you giggled, scooching up to him and kissing his cheek. He hugged you tightly, and you kissed him as the hug ended. You reached around and undid his bandana, causing him to tense in surprise. You broke the kiss, smiling and wrapping it around the ice pack and his leg, keeping it flush against his ankle. 

"Why don't you take the day off? Gwen and I will handle this." You smiled warmly. "Oh, alright... but just for today," he said. "I'll come back to check on you in a little bit and bring you some breakfast. No getting up!" you said, pretending to be assertive. You stood, putting your hand on his shoulder and kissing his cheek. "Be back soon," you said, turning and walking out the door.


	6. Like a Dream

You walked into the Mess Hall, kids showing up one by one, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. The QuarterMaster was already busy cooking pancakes, and you could smell bacon in the air, which was strange, considering nobody had gone out to buy bacon this week. Regardless, you got in line after everyone had shown up. Gwen stood in line next to you. 

"Where's David? He's usually here before everyone." "He sprained his ankle this morning. I told him to just take a day off." She raised a brow in surprise. "You got him to agree to take the day off?" You laughed. "Well, I think he knew I'd probably lock him in a cabin if he refused." She snorted. "Well, we have one less child to deal with." You laughed. 

When it was your turn, you took two trays, stacking the trays and putting the two plates of plates of pancakes and bacon and two cups of orange juice on the tray on top, walking back to your cabin. You opened the door, seeing David just as you left him, though he was laying down now with his booted foot hanging off the side of the bed. He smiled brightly as you entered, watching as you prepared the trays. You gave him one, pulling up a chair and putting the other on your lap. 

As you ate, you talked about how you went to your farm this morning, and all about your horses and their names and how you figured they were the perfect fit to bring to the camp. He listened to every word you said, smiling and watching as you lit up talking about the horses. 

"Speaking of horses," he said once you were done, "We need to rename the.. mare.. we have out there, now that we know she's a girl." "Good job remembering it," you giggled. "What was her name before?" "Edgar," he said, not expecting you to burst out laughing. You didn't know why you were laughing so hard. Maybe you were just giddy. "Alright alright alright," you said, calming yourself. "We can ask the kids to think of some names, and vote on one. If we can't get them to collectively agree on something, you, Gwen and I will pick something." You sipped your orange juice. "Sounds like a plan," David grinned. 

When the two of you finished, you stacked the dishes on the trays. You propped David's ankle up on a pillow, adjusting the ice. "Alright, I'll be back after the first activity," you said, kissing his forehead. You went to leave, but not before smiling at him over your shoulder.

When you got back to the Mess Hall, the kids had just finished eating. "Alright, kids, quick announcement this morning," you said, clapping your hands and speaking loudly. "As a couple of you might know, or maybe you're just hearing this now; Our horse needs a name." Nurf raised his hand, but didn't wait for you to call on him. "Um, he already has a name. It's Edgar." he said, as if it were obvious. "Actually, we found out that Edgar is actually a girl. So, she needs a different name." "Why should Edgar have to adhere to society's gender roles?!" Nurf shouted. You glanced at Gwen. "Well," you began. "We figured you guys would like to take part in naming this horse. After all, she is the camp's horse, and the previous owner she had gave her that name." 

"Why don't we keep it relatively similar to the original name, like Edna?" Neil suggested. "Ooh! Ve should call her Hilda!" Dolph interjected, jumping into the air. "Juliet!" Preston yelled with a passionate gesture to his chest. You nodded along. "Take today to think about it and discuss it among yourselves, and at the end of the day we'll take a vote. Now, our first activity this morning, we'll be doing some painting," you gestured to Gwen. "Gwen, since you're more educated on this subject than I am, would you mind leading this activity?" You smiled at her, and she smiled back. "Alright, kids. With what little shitty craft paint we have here, we're gonna make some mediocre art." "Oooh! Zis is my favorite camp!" Dolph exclaimed, running to get the art supplies from the attic. 

You sat yourself across from Max, Nikki and Neil, sharing a palette of paint and a cup of water between the four of you. Nikki was painting what looked like a platypus with sharp teeth, claws and dragon wings. Neil was painting a solar system, which was turning out be pretty beautiful. Max just sat with his chin in his hand, painting random swirls and mixing colors. You were attempting to paint a horse. Even though you weren't that great at drawing, let alone painting, nothing could ruin your good mood today. You stared at your paper as you painted, unaware of the dreamy smile you had on your face. 

"Why are you so happy?" Max asked, bright aqua eyes piercing a hole through you. "Oh, nothing," you sighed happily. "And where is David? Did you kill him or something? Is that why you're so happy?" You blinked at him. "No, Max, I did not murder my coworker," you said simply, turning your gaze back to your painting. "He hurt himself this morning while working on the fence, so he's resting." "Damn," Max smirked. "I would believe you killed him before you convinced him to not work today." You smirked as well. "I hear you there, kid. I still don't believe it myself." "Yeah," Nikki butted in. "If he was terminally ill, he would still be here and jumping around." "Well, (y/n) is kind of a brute. I think he knows she's not past nailing him to the bed to make him rest." Neil offered. You burst out laughing. Nikki laughing along as well, and Max snickered, trying not to appear amused. 

"So, have either of you thought of a name for this horse?" you asked. "I still think she could be called Edna. It'd be easier to remember." "I think she should have a cool name, like Roxy, or something," Nikki said, going back to her painting. "I don't know, don't horses always have really dumb names? Like Destiny, or like Enchanted Wind?" Max said, putting a mocking passion into the pronunciation of the names. You laughed. "Well, if they're show horses, they usually do. A lot of snooty show people like to give them weird names. Usually their full name is like, a whole entire phrase. But in real life, they just get called a simple name." "What's the stupidest name for a horse you've ever heard?" Nikki asked. You laughed inwardly. "Buck Neigh Kid." All three of the kids laughed, and you joined in. "That's fucking stupid," Max smirked. "There was also Jumping Jelly, and Barrel Racing Barbie," you said, grinning. "Wouldn't calling your horse Jumping Jelly be, like, an insult? Like you're calling your horse fat?" Max asked. You laughed. "I don't know. Some breeders will name consecutive foals with the alphabet to keep track. They must've been on J. I think the next year they came in with a horse named Kicking KitKat, or something like that." The kids laughed. 

You actually felt a little bit proud to be liked by Max. You rarely saw him not angry, much less smiling and laughing. You knew by later today he'd probably be slinging insults left and right. But now you knew you were at least somewhat good in his book.

You went in and out of your cabin before, halfway through, and after each activity, checking up on him and changing out the ice pack if the previous one had melted. Every time you walked in he would perk up and smile, always eager to listen to anything you had to say, and you happily listened to him talk about anything he felt like talking about. During lunch break, you brought your tray and one for him as well. You started talking about how the kids had some cool ideas, how Max was warming up to you. The whole time he just looked at you, eyes sparkling, cheeks pink, with a happy smile on his face.

Eventually the two of you had finished eating and you set the trays aside and just talked. You moved from the chair to the bed, leaning up against him. "So, does it feel any better?" You asked. "Well, it's quite sore, but it doesn't look as swollen." He said. "Can you wiggle your toes?" you asked. He complied. "Definitely not broken! You've got a little bit of a bruise forming, though. Is that where the tree hit?" You asked. He nodded. "Awww, poor David," you pouted in sympathy, kissing his temple. "Tonight, we'll see how well you can walk on it." You assured him. The both of you laid down side by side. He laid his head between your shoulder and breast, his faux hawk tickling your neck. You wished that today was Saturday, or you had the day off, or any excuse to just stay here. With him. 

You planted a kiss in his red hair, then leaned back on your pillow and closed your eyes. A moment later, David glanced at his watch. "(y/n)?" "Hmm?" "Lunch is over in five minutes." You sighed sadly, sitting up. "Alright," you said, standing up, picking up the stacked trays and dishes. "I'll see you again soon," you said, leaning down to kiss between his brows before heading out. 

The activities between lunch and dinner seemed to last forever. All you could think about was David. Your boyfriend. It felt good to be able to call him that. You'd been here a couple weeks, but it felt like forever. You enjoyed it thoroughly. Between the activities, Nerris and Harrison had been fighting, so you and Gwen were forced to quickly transition from one activity to another, so you weren't able to visit David inbetween, which killed you. But it was finally dinner, and you couldn't wait to see him. You felt like a middle school kid with a crush, but he just put you in such a good mood. Dinner was just a pile of mashed potatoes, which was your personal favorite, besides the pancakes. You stacked the dishes as usual, making your way to the cabin. You brought another ice pack with you, figuring it was about time to swap them out.

When you walked it, he was glad to see you. More so than usual. "Hey," you smiled, handing him his tray. "Sorry, I didn't forget about you," you added, sitting beside him. "Fight between magic kids. You know how it goes." He laughed, digging in. "I missed you," he said, nudging you. You giggled. "I missed you too." 

When you both finished eating, you crawled to the end of the bed by his foot, untying the bandana. "It looks like the swelling is going down just a little," you said. You double checked for broken bones. "Well, looks like all your toes are here! Prognosis is good," you laughed. He chuckled as well. "Excellent news, doctor!" You retied the new icepack to his foot, then crawled back up to sit by him. You moved to hold his hand, leaning your head on his shoulder. He rested his cheek on your head, the both of you perfectly content. 

"Hey, I have an idea," he broke the silence. "Hm?" "Will you go grab my guitar?" You smiled up at him. "Lemme take the dishes back first," you said. He gave you a thumbs up. When you returned and gave it to him, he repositioned himself to hold it comfortably on his lap, while you untied your boots and sat criss-cross on the bed. He checked the tuning, strumming a few quick little tunes. "I've been thinking of some new camp songs all day today," he said. "Though I'm also working on one for you," he added, blushing as he looked up at him. "Awwwh," you grinned, not knowing what to say. "It's not finished yet," he continued, "But I promise you, it's gonna be great." You grinned, leaning forward to cup his face, kissing him softly. "I'm sure it'll be perfect." He smiled, his blush deepening.

You kissed him again, this time a bit longer. He placed a hand on your shoulder, then moved it to your back, deepening the kiss as he set his guitar down between the bed and the nightstand. You crawled closer with your lips still connected, straddling him as you sat in his lap. You loved the feeling of kissing him, and seeing his blush as you parted for air. His gorgeous teal eyes wouldn't come off you unless they were closed. You kept your hands on his jaw, breaking off for air once again, when you saw a kid walking outside the window in your peripherals. "W-What's wrong?" David asked, blushing wildly. "What time is it?" You asked. He looked at his watch and frowned. "3 minutes 'till dinner is over." You sighed, looking back to him, caressing his face with one of your hands. He tilted his cheek into your touch. "I'll come back when activities are done... and finish what we started," you said. He bit his lip shyly, and blushed even harder. You kissed him one last time before you got up, putting your boots on. "See you in a bit."


	7. The Sin Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the title suggests, there be Sin™ below.

Evening activities couldn't be over fast enough. You couldn't focus. All you could think about was him. But you kept yourself as put together as you could manage.

Before everyone was dismissed, the vote on the horse's name was held. One a few pieces of paper, the kids could vote for Edgar, Edna, Hilda, Whisper, or they could write in a name. After everyone passed in their papers, you and Gwen counted up the votes. Edgar had two votes, Edna six, Whisper four, and a couple write-ins, including Elsa. "Looks like her name is Edna!" You announced. Six kids cheered, with a couple groans. You assumed those were the write-ins. 

With that, all the kids were sent off to bed, and you bid Gwen goodnight, before making a beeline for your cabin. As soon as you got there, you shut and locked the door, and closed all the curtains. You kicked off your boots, crawling onto the bed with David, who was just where you left him. You kissed him, and he pressed his lips against yours hungrily. He must have been just as bummed as you were that you had left so abruptly. You sat on his lap again, straddling him, and pushed against his chest to lay him down. 

You sat up briefly to take off your shirt, watching as his eyes widened and his face reddened. You dropped it on the floor and dove back down into the kiss, your fingers starting to sneak under his shirt. You felt him suck in his stomach a little as his breath became heavier. You pulled his shirt over his head and he lifted his arms to assist, his brown vest coming off as well. His blush spread down his neck to his chest, his skin red hot as you leaned back down to connect your lips again. You moved down to kiss his neck, sucking and biting to leave small hickeys along his neck, shoulders and collarbone. You went back to his neck, working just along the front of his neck by his Adam's apple, making him tilt his head back. You could feel his breathing with your lips, and you kissed up his neck and met his lips again. 

You felt his hand move to your head, his fingers moving through your hair. You pushed your bottom down onto his groin, feeling him stiffen, and making him whimper. "Unhook my bra," you told him between kisses. "W-What?" he asked. "Take my bra off," you repeated, kissing him again. He moved his fingers from your hair to the back of your bra, fiddling with the garment. "It's like a hook and a loop, pull them toward each other and then away," you said, parting from his lips for a moment. He did so, and you finally felt it release. The straps fell down your shoulders and you flung the garment away. You could see him trying not to look, biting his lip sheepishly. You smiled. "You can look, baby," you said. He visibly reacted to the new petname, and you brought his hand to your breast, leaning down toward him. He awkwardly held your breast in one hand. He brushed his thumb across your nipple, making you gasp and moan. You kissed him again, and he brought his other hand to your neglected breast. You moaned against his lips at his touches, and you felt him becoming harder beneath you.

You kissed a trail down his neck to his chest, to his stomach, to his lower abdomen. You felt him tense up as you got closer and closer to his groin. You palmed him through his pants, and he involuntarily bucked his hips up. His breathing got heavier as you undid his belt, button and zipper. You pulled off his pants and boxers in one motion, exposing his member. He sucked in his stomach again at the cool air, feeling exposed. He propped himself up on his elbows, biting his lip. You rubbed his upper thighs, which were tense and stiff. You brought one hand to the base of his member, rubbing up and down his length a couple times. His legs started to shake at the sensation, his hips lifting a little. You ran your tongue from the base to his tip, blowing hot air through your nose onto his body. You took him in, inch by inch, coating most of his manhood with a thin, slippery layer of spit, before you bobbed your head, with a good amount of suction. A chill wracked his entire body, as his elbows gave out from underneath him. He moaned and groaned several times in a row, his hands reaching for something to grip. One squeezed the blanket while the other rested in your hair. "(y/n)... O-oh my Campbell, (y/n)... fuck!" he whimpered. His sudden vulgarity gave your shivers. Your free hand reached down into your jeans, rubbing your clit, which was becoming more and more sensitive. He noticed that, pinching his lips between his teeth and moaning. 

You separated your mouth from him, making him whimper. You undid your jeans quickly, taking your panties with them as you breathed heavily. You grabbed the hand David had in your hair, pulling his arm to make him sit up. You adjusted your legs, laying down and pulling David with you. You kissed him, grabbing his face with one and pulling one of his hands to your breast with the other. You then reached down, rubbing your clit in circles. He noticed, separating from your lips, making you moan in protest. He sat up, watching your fingers, then pushed your hand away. You pushed your hips up, aching from the lack of touch. You felt his fingers replace yours, rubbing in circles, and your eyes rolled back in your head. Knowing it was his touch made a tickling tingle run from your clit to your stomach. You moaned and bit your lip, and he watched your every expression, biting his lip. A moment later he leaned down, running his tongue over your clit, making you buck your hips upward and gasp, letting out a rough moan. 

He moved your legs apart, experimenting what patterns to make with his tongue to make you react the most. Your fingers gripped his hair. "David... Oh David... Ahh... Oh my god, David..." You moaned, completely inadvertently. He loved hearing his name pass through you lips like this. His teal eyes shifted from your face, to your womanhood, to your face again, making sure he was doing everything right. Suddenly you felt a tightening warmth build up in your lower abdomen, intensifying with every stroke of his tongue. You gripped his hair tighter as it reached its peak, sending strong waves of pleasure through your whole body, coming in waves and contracting all of your muscles as you moaned and gasped and cried out. 

Only when you stopped did he separate his lips from you, crawling up over you as you caught your breath. You opened your eyes, finally able to focus them. "Holy shit," you said under your breath. "D-Did you..?" he asked, too shy to say the word. You nodded, too exasperated to say anything either. "Do you need a minute?" He asked. "No," you said quickly. "Please. A-Are you okay, with your ankle? Do you need to to..?" He smiled warmly. "No, I'm fine," he said. You scooched yourself downward, toward him.

He shyly positioned himself, very slowly pushing inward. You felt the tickling sensation run up to your stomach again, a breathy moan escaping your lips. He glanced at you, taking in all of your expressions, his eyes switching between you and himself to make sure he was doing it right. When he was fully in, he paused to prop himself above you, and you bit your lip, loving having all of him inside you. He started to move very slowly, the both of you moaning together. You brought his face down to kiss you, and he gladly did so. He started to move just a bit faster, and you wrapped your legs around his hips. He gradually increased his speed, every change in pace causing you to tingle and shiver just a little more. You felt every single movement of every single thrust. You shifted one of your legs, and the change of angle caused him to hit that perfect spot each time he thrust. You growled and moaned. "Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!" you gasped, feeling your abdomen start to tighten. It felt like a pool of pure ecstasy will filling inside you, and was about to overflow. "Fuck! David! Oh..!" you whimpered desperately, unable to lift your head to kiss him as the waves of pleasure shocked your body, causing your muscles to contract on and off. Suddenly you felt him pull out, and felt a hot fluid dripping on your stomach. He whined and whimpered, falling down on top of you and burying his face in the crook of your neck. 

You both breathed heavily against each other. Eventually he rolled over to lay beside you, and you immediately turned over to cuddle him. He wrapped his arms around you, the both of you a hot, blushing mess. Eventually you stood up to get a towel to clean the both of you up. As you returned, you noticed him staring and smiling at you. "What?" you asked. "You're beautiful." he said simply. You smiled back, wiping the two of you off. You got back on the bed, and David pulled the covers over you two. He wrapped his arms around you as you snuggled up against him. You looked up at him, kissing him softly. "Goodnight, David." You said, nuzzling against him. "Goodnight, (y/n)." he replied, closing his eyes. 

"...I love you." he added after a moment. You smiled in the darkness. "I love you too."


	8. Hazy

The next morning, you woke peacefully, snuggled up against David's warm body, just as you had fallen asleep. His arms were still around you, holding you close. He was still asleep. You felt his chest rise and fall against you as you listened to his soft breathing. You moved your legs a little, embracing the feeling of his skin against yours. You were in a state of pure bliss. The weakest hints of light peeped through the curtains as the sun rose outside. Your eyes focused on David's face, wondering what he was dreaming about. 

You tried to pinpoint what point in time it was that you fell in love with him. Maybe it was his ability to always make you smile. Or the way he made you feel when his gorgeous teal eyes stared into yours. You wondered what made him fall in love with you. 

Suddenly you felt him stir and take a deep breath. His eyes opened slowly, and he smiled when he saw you were awake. "Good morning, (y/n)," he whispered. "Good morning David," you whispered back. You gently craned your neck to kiss him softly. "How's your ankle feel?" "Not quite as sore... still hurts to move, though," he replied, lifting his leg and rotating his ankle with a wince. "Well, I said I'd help you to walk on it last night, but I never did. Got distracted, I guess," you smirked, your fingers brushing over one of the many hickies you had left. The pink returned to his cheeks as he smiled shyly. "Y-yeah," he said under his breath. "Sleep well?" you asked, laying your head back down on the pillow. He nodded. "Very well. How about you?" You smiled. "Best sleep of my life." you replied, wrapping your arms around him, nuzzling your head under his chin. You felt his chest vibrate with a chuckle as he pulled you closer. You wished you could stay like this all day. You were surprised that he didn't mention the time or any other obligations. He must've wanted to stay here, too.

Eventually, the both of you decided to get up and get dressed. He mostly stayed seating to dress himself, trying not to let you see that he was sneaking glances at you. You picked up his bandana, walking over to him and tying it around his neck to hide the hickies you had left. "You're gonna wanna wear this if you plan on coming outside today." You smirked. He blushed, making you kiss his cheek. 

"I wouldn't wrap an ace bandage or anything around it. Though, I would tie your boot nice and snug. Not so tight you cut off the circulation and get gangrene, but a little tighter than usual." He laughed, doing as you said. When he was done, he looked up at you. You grabbed his hands, eventually moving to one of his sides to help him stand. He was leaning pretty heavily on his non-injured foot. You slowly but surely led him to the cabin door, as he clutched onto you and winced every time he limped. Once you made it outside, you stopped to give him a break. "Well, it hasn't fallen off yet!" you exclaimed. He laughed, waving his hand at you. "I'm not exaggerating that much." "Doesn't matter, babe. I'll still tease you anyway." He smiled, his cheeks dusted with pink at the petname. 

You resumed your position beside him, taking him to the Mess Hall. 

The day progressed as usual, the only change being that you had to help David walk here and there. He even managed to limp short distances by himself. He was even willing to walk with you to the horse's pasture after lunch. 

You offered to help him walk, but he insisted that he was fine; he was deadset on holding your hand the whole way there. When you arrived at the horse's pasture, you squeezed his hand. "Looks like you'll be healing faster than I thought." "Just trying my best so I can get back to spending my mornings here with you." He smiled, blushing. Your heart swelled. "You're too sweet to me," you said, your hand over your heart to keep it from bursting through your chest. You stood on your toes to kiss him sweetly. "Don't push yourself too hard. " you said as you parted, smiling up at him. "I won't," he smiled back. 

You turned, looking at all the work you had done on the fence. "It's almost done," you said, a smile on your face. "I'm going to bring a couple of my tools over and run some cable rope through here, and we'll have a brand new, safe pasture for her." "What are you going to do after that's done?" he asked. He gently swung your hands between the two of you. "I'll make a bigger ring. A much, much bigger ring. And add a couple stalls onto the little barn. After that, I'll bring my horses here, and everything will be ready for riding." You said, leaning your head on his shoulder. "That sounds fantastic," he replied, resting his cheek on your head. "Actually... when was the last time this horse was ridden?" "Umm.. maybe last summer? The last camper to ride her was Nikki, but she stood on her two back legs, which was frightening to me, but fun for Nikki." "I don't think she's properly broken for riding." "Broken? Why would she need to be broken?" you giggled. "Horse term. It means she's not properly trained and accustomed to being ridden." "Ohhh," David said. He paused for a moment. "Why would you call that breaking a horse? That's so mean!" He whimpered. You giggled again. "Don't worry. No horses are broken in the process of training them to be ridden." He laughed. 

"I'll come out here one of these mornings and see what she knows." you said. "Can I come with?" he asked like an eager child, jiggling your hand. "Yes, of course you can, my love," you smiled. 

"Actually, let me see what she knows with groundwork." You said, running to your truck which was parked nearby. You grabbed a 3-foot long plastic-handled stick with a 3-foot long rope tied to the end of it. You grabbed a handful of treats from a small container you kept and made your way over to her, whistling to get her attention. You ripped a tuft of grass from the ground, waving it at her. She walked over to you, stopping just in front of you to eat the grass from your hand. David leaned on the fence a few feet away. "I'm gonna see if her previous owner taught her anything." You said, not taking your eyes off the horse. You leaned over, walking slowly toward the horse's rear, twirling the rope at her back hoof. It took her a moment, but she swung her hip away from you, keeping her front feet firmly in place. "Oh, good girl!" you cheered, feeding her a treat. You did the same thing from the other side. 

"Let's see how much liberty you're capable of." You said to her. You held the stick in your right hand, and outstretched your left arm and pointed to your left. She looked at you blankly for a moment. You twirled your rope and she moved a little, bit stopped. You whipped the stick and cracked the ground right next to her with the rope, and she sprang to your left, trotting that way. David tensed up. "It's alright. Just a big movement," you said, not taking your eyes off her. You kept your focus on her, turning to keep the front of your body facing the center of her body as she trotted in a circle around you. 

"Well, she's phenomenal with groundwork." You bowed, and she slowed and walked toward you. You gave her a treat and pet her. "Good girl!" you rewarded. "Once your ankle is feeling better, I'll teach you some of this. It's pretty important to know how to control a horse when you're not on their back." 

You put everything in the small tack room, and took David's hand to walk back to the camp, talking all about how excited you were to be finished with this project and get to working with the horses.


	9. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright listen I'm not the best with chapter titles so please bear with me

A few days later, you had gone back to your morning routine of building the fence. You had actually completed the ring, and it looked perfect. Just to your liking. You were crossing the pasture to go grab one of your tools, when you noticed David standing by the fence. Once he was sure you noticed him, we waved. You waved back as you jogged over to him. "Good morning!" He greeted, smiling from ear to ear. To interrupted his smile by grabbing his face and kissing him. You pulled back, grinning at his dazed and flustered expression. "Good morning, baby!" you greeted back. "You're in a good mood today," he said after gathering his composure. "I am," you said happily. "The ring is done, and all I need now on the fence is the cable!" He grinned. "That's awesome! It looks amazing." You smiled brightly, kissing him again. "I'm so excited. Once this is done, all I have to do is take down the old fence, and I can bring my horses here! After that, all we need is a couple extra stalls, and lessons can begin!" 

You ducked beneath the fence, hugging him tightly and attacking him with kisses. "So, you're ankle's better?" you asked. A smile spread across his pink cheeks. "Yeppers! I walked all the way here without limping." "That's awesome!" you exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're not hurting anymore." He smiled. "Me too. I made sure this was my first stop after I woke up without any pain." You smiled. "Well, since it's Saturday, we can spend the day however we want," you said, wrapping your hands around his shoulders. He smiled, his hands moving to your waist. You stood on the balls of your feet to kiss his lips. He craned his neck down to meet you halfway. "C'mon, help me get these cords set up!" You said after you parted, grabbing his hand and pulling him along to your truck, causing him to laugh. 

You grabbed a long coil of what looked like rope, with a wire inside to carry the current. You gave it to him, grabbing your toolbox and setting up an anchor to begin lining the fence. With every post, you drilled a loop bolt through, and David fed it through. You made your way along the entire fence, finally coming to the end. To get in and out, the end of the cord had a plastic handle with a hook that secured on a loop on one of the fence posts. You hooked up all the wiring to a little generator. "Alright David. Ready for the moment of truth?" you asked, a smile on your face he smiled and nodded. "Alright... 3... 2... 1..!" you flipped on the switch, and heard a sharp snap and a click as the current ran through the fence. You cheered, hugging him tightly and kissing him all over once again. You felt his face heat up and you giggled. "Help me tear down this old fence," you smiled, leading him to it. 

The wood was so old and rotten, all it took was a little pull and a kick, and it came right down. It was so dilapidated that you decided to just leave the remains of it inside Edna's new pasture. You went up to David. "Watch, watch her reaction..." you whispered, grabbing his hand. Edna walked to one of the fallen fence posts, sniffing it, and pressing down on it with her hoof. She looked up and the vast plain around her, and started to trot toward it. Suddenly, her whole body spasms and she kicked her legs up in the air, taking off full speed. David stared in awe. "She loves it!" you squealed. "Of course she does," David said, putting his arm around you and squeezing you close. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to her."

You let Edna become accustomed to her new pasture, before you put a halter on her and led her to the arena. David watched you closely, taking mental notes. "So what I've got on her right now is a halter, and the short rope I'm leading her by is called a lead rope." you said. You tied it to the fence post, walking to the tack room with him at your heels. "This here," you said, picking up an extra long rope, "Is a lunge rope. I'll have you use it to do some groundwork on her or one of my horses." You grabbed a bridle, putting it on top of a western saddle and saddle pad and carrying it out. You set the bridle down on the fence, and put the saddle on the fence so it straddled it and stayed balanced. "Now, I'm gonna show you how to properly groom her." You handed him a flat plastic object with what looked like rubber spikes that were flattened at the end. "This is called a curry comb. You use this one first in a circular scrubbing motion." He looked it like it were something that belonged to an alien, but he did as you said. "Now, when you want to switch sides, don't just walk behind her. She can't see you, and she might think you're a threat and kick you. What you wanna do is just tap her butt so she knows you're there." You said. You did so and walked around her, waiting for him to do the same. He did so awkwardly, but smiled at you as you came around.

Eventually, the grooming was done and it was time to put the saddle on. You picked up the saddle in one arm, grabbing the pad from underneath. "Alright, this step is important. Hold this for a second," you said, handing the saddle to him. He grabbed it with both hands, almost dropping it to the dirt. "Oh my Campbell, you didn't tell me it was this heavy!" You burst out laughing at him. "Sorry, Davey. Guess I'm just desensitized to it. Anyway, this part is important. See this little bump here, between her neck and her back? This is called the withers. It's really important that you cover them up well when you put the saddle pad on. Otherwise, it's really painful and aggravating to them." He nodded, repeating it back to himself. You walked over to hip, flipping up one of the stirrups and hooking it on the saddle horn before you took it from him and lifted the saddle onto her back. "Now, perhaps the most important step here is to make sure the saddle is on tight enough. Otherwise, it could slip and you'll be side saddling, or right underneath her." You gathered the straps from underneath her. "This one had definitely had a saddle on her. So, what you really have to be careful of, is some of these horses like to take in a deep breath and puff out their stomach so they don't have to have their saddle tightened properly. Quick fix is just give 'em a little-" you jerked your knee up into her undercarriage, and she let out a breath. You took the opportunity to tighten it even more, and secure it with the buckle. "Just like that." you said, dusting off your hands. "Now all that's left is to get her bridle on."

"It's pretty simple. Just take your thumb and middle finger, and poke her on either side of her lips." As you did so, you inserted the bit into her mouth, putting the bridle strap behind her ears. "Last thing is the throat straps here. Number one rule: If you can't comfortably fit two fingers between it and her throat, it's too tight." You finished up, flipping the reins over. "Now all that's left is to get on," you smiled. You lifted your left foot into the left stirrup, and grabbed the saddle horn. You jumped up, pushing with your leg and pulling with your arm and eventually swinging your right leg over to sit comfortably. David looked up at you in awe, a lovestruck smile on his face. You giggled, waving at him. You started at a walk with her, testing to see what she knew, and teaching her a couple new things. "My favorite thing with these horses is that they're super fast learners. Doesn't matter how old a horse is, they'll always be able to learn something new if you work with them consistently."

You squeezed her sides with your heels, to make her speed up from a walk. She didn't comply, so you did it again. She ignored you, so you kicked her sides softly. "David, will you get something out of the tack room for me?" "Of course, honey! What do you need?" You smiled at the petname he used. He was so sweet. "I need you to get me a crop. It looks like a short stick with a little leather loop at the end of it." He nodded, walking a few feet and emerged a moment later, holding it up. "Is this it!" "Yup! That's exactly it." You manipulated your reins, leading Edna over to him and grabbing it from him. "Thank you, baby!" You smiled. He smiled, his cheeks dusted pink.

You took the crop by the handle, tapping her on the shoulder with it as you squeezed her sides again. She still didn't speed up after you asked her again, so you reached with your arm, swinging it down and whipping her on her butt. She immediately lunged forward into a full-on gallop. David screamed, but you had done this a hundred times before. You adjusted your hold on the reins, slowing her to a canter, and then a trot. "Good girl," you rewarded her, petting her shoulder. You rode back over to David, who looked like he'd just witness a tragedy. "So, she's DEFINITELY capable of being ridden. She's just a little lazy. No issue." You smile. 

You canter her around for a little while, then get off and take off the saddle and let her back out into the pasture. After putting everything away, you turned to David. "Wanna come with me to the farm with me and bring my horses back?" His eyes lit up, sparkling with excitement. "Ooh! Yes!" he squealed. "Come on, then!" you grabbed his hand, leading him to your truck. You hopped in, starting it up after he got in. You were just a little jealous of how easily he was able to get in it due to his height. You turned it around, heading out down the driveway, clouds of dust rising behind you as you drove with one hand on the wheel, the other holding David's hand.


	10. Reciprocate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sin™ lies ahead toward the end. Ye have been warned.

You spent the whole drive with your fingers intertwined with David's. It was the greatest feeling, just to hold his hand and be in his presence. You turned on an off road, driving over some hills, and took a left onto the driveway of a huge farm. "This is where you live?" He gasped in awe, squeezing your hand. You giggled. "Mmhmm. I live in an apartment in town at the moment, but this is what I consider home." 

You pulled to the back of the property, backing up in front of a long horse trailer. "Wanna help me hook this up?" You asked. "Of course!" he grinned. You squeezed each other's hands before getting out, walking to the back of the truck. You cranked the handle to lower the trailer's hookup onto the metal hookup on your truck while he connected the chain. When it was secure, you both hopped back in, driving up to the barn. 

Your parents greeted you, hugging you. "Who's this young man?" your mother asked. "This is David," you said, then grabbed his hand. "He's a coworker of mine. He's the guy I was talking to you about." "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. (l/n)!" he said, offering his hand. Your dad shook it. He offered it to your mom, but she just hugged him. "Hello, David! We've heard so much about you." He smiled, and you giggled. "We're here to pick up Lucy and Desi," you said. "They're all ready to go! Their bridles and saddles are stacked up nicely, and I've hung a bridle and lead rope for each of them on their stall doors." "Thanks, mom!" You said, leading David to the stalls. 

"Want to lead Lucy to the trailer?" you asked. His face brightened. "Do I ever!" You giggled, giving him the halter. "She'll duck her head down for you to put it on her. Just put this strap behind her ears, her nose goes through his loop here, and secure this little buckle by her chin." You opened the stall door for him, and he entered. By the time you had put your halter on Desi, David had Lucy. His eyes were sparkling with joy. "I got her!" he squealed. "Good job, babe. Lead her from her left side and follow me," you smiled, walking to the trailer. The whole time he ecstatically talked about how she was walking right next to him, and how cool it was.

You opened the door, pulling the ramp down. You led Desi in first, her hooves clunking and resonating inside the trailer. David followed you in. "Okay, just take off her lead rope and leave her halter on." He did as he was told, then followed you out of the trailer as you shut the doors and secured them tightly. You gave him a saddle to carry to the truck, which he struggled to carry, but made it to the truck nevertheless. You put them in the back seat, then hopped in the front seat and starting it up. "Alright! Next stop, Camp Campbell!" you smiled. You grabbed his hand again, pressing the gas and starting off slow to adjust to the added weight of a trailer with horses in it.

When you arrived, you passed a few kids who stared in awe at the huge trailer. You drove it right out to the pasture, and got out with David to go get the horses. You opened the door, hooking the lead ropes to their halters, and giving Lucy's lead to David. The whole time he lead her, he smiled and pet her. You let them into the pasture, letting them get accustomed to the change of scenery and meet Edna. 

"Would you like to ride today?" you asked David. He gasped, eyes wide. "Oh, yes!" he squealed. "Alrightie," you smiled. "You can ride Lucy. We'll ride around camp."

You took his hand, leading him to a shady tree and sitting down. After a little while, his head was in your lap, and you ran your fingers through his red hair. You sighed contently. He turned a little, his warm teal eyes looking into yours and smiling. You leaned down, kissing his lips. His cheeks turned a soft pink as he kissed back. You loved how he blushed at every little thing. You craned your neck a little, placing tender kisses along his neck. He squirmed, biting his lip and whimpering inwardly. You giggled, nuzzling your nose against his. He smiled, reaching for your hand and intertwining his fingers with yours. 

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" He asked. You sat up a bit straighter, looking at the horses grazing in the distance. "I'm thinking about... how happy I am right now. And how I'm glad I took this job." You answered. He smiled. "I'm thinking about how beautiful you are. And how lucky I am to have you." Your heart swelled. "I'm the lucky one," you said, sliding down against the tree so you were laying with your shoulders propped up on the trunk, David's head on your stomach now. "I assure you, I'm the lucky one." He said, his eyes directed at you. You shook your head. "Nope. I hit the jackpot when I met you." 

He rolled onto his stomach, army crawling over to your face. "Listen, young lady," he began, causing you to bust out laughing. He couldn't help chuckling. "I could've rotted away when I got stuck under that log. You could've just gone back to the camp and I would've never been found. I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world a loving, caring, beautiful person like you came to rescue me." Your cheeks were tinted pink. "Seriously! I was thinking about chopping my foot off to get free." You giggled. "Well, at first I thought you didn't want to build the fence with me anymore when I drove up there and you weren't standing there. But I heard you in the distance and I just... knew something was wrong." "I'm really glad that you were the one who came for me." he said. "Me too. I don't think we'd be sitting here together right now if I wasn't." "Yeah... Even though it hurt really bad, I think it was the best thing to ever happen to me. Because it lead to the best day of my life." He said, blushing a bit. You smiled, your heart swelling. "Mine too." You both kissed softly. As you parted, you smirked. "Yeah, lots of greats things happened that day," you said, nudging him a little. He blushed madly. "Y-Yeah..." he mumbled something that you couldn't make out. He wouldn't look you in the eye. You tried not to show that you couldn't hear. His teal eyes glanced back at you, looking for a response.

You quickly grabbed either side of his brown vest, yanking him over to you to kiss him. You parted with a smacking sound. You loved the dazed look he got every time you did that. He blinked the surprise from his eyes, meeting yours. He lunged forward, pushing you over and landing your back in the grass. Before you knew what was happening, his lips were smashed against yours, a cry of surprise from your throat being silenced. He was suddenly on top of you, his kisses suddenly becoming more aggressive. At that point, you thought you might know what he had said before. His sudden confidence and dominance was shocking to you, but nevertheless intrigued you. You kissed back with equal passion, embracing his newfound confidence. 

You felt his fingers slowly slide beneath your shirt, exposing your midriff. You arched your back as he reached up further, encouraging him to keep going. His hands moved to grope your breasts but were only met by your bra. After reaching underneath you and trying to unhook it, he gripped it and yanked it up to your collar bone, making you giggle against his lips. He freely touched and groped your breasts, making you moan softly. He broke contact between your lips, pulling your shirt up to your armpits, kissing a trail from you collarbone to between your breasts, then began to tease one of your nipples with this tongue. You groaned, your chest rising and falling as your breath deepened. As he sucked on your nipple, his eyes met yours, making you shiver and bite your lip.

He crawled over you again and meeting your lips, gliding his tongue across your bottom lip. This surprised you, since you thought a concept like French kissing would be foreign to him, but you let your mouth open enough to meet his tongue. He wasn't the best at it, though neither were you, but you silently instructed him with your tongue, every now and then gripping his lower lip between your teeth and sucking on it before slowly dragging back and letting it go. He seemed to like that, doing the same thing to you a moment later. Even if your breasts weren't completely exposed, and even if you couldn't feel his bulge slowly growing between your legs, you loved the feeling alone of just kissing him. Even if it was just a quick peck on the lips, he kissed you with nothing but pure love and adoration. He really was the best thing that had ever happened to you. 

His bulge grew until the point he started to grind against you, whimpering with need. You sat up, and pushed his back against the tree. You spread apart his knees, unbuckling his belt and working as quickly as you could to get his shorts off that were so tight, it looked painful. He pushed his hips upward, looking for relief. As soon as the zipper came undone, you manipulated the flap in his underwear and finally managed to get his cock free. His muscles finally relaxed. Precum was already oozing from the tip of his cock, which was red with need. You started to stroke him, kneeling to kiss him for a moment, pressing him up against the tree, feeling his moans vibrate through his throat. You parted, licking his tip which was slick with precum. He jolted, extremely sensitive to touch, more so than the first time you had done this. It made your womanhood tingle, knowing you had this effect on him. You carefully started to take him in, with no suction at all so you didn't overstimulate him. The lower half of his body trembled, and you set your hands in the nook of his v-line so you could feel it while your ears tuned in to every sound he made. He was so sensitive he could hardly make a sound above a desperate croak, so you stayed gentle until you could feel him relax. 

Once he did, you started to bob your head a little lower, and suck in your cheeks a little. Immediately he gasped and yelled. You hoped nobody had heard that. As your head bobbed up, he inhaled through his teeth. As you lowered your head, he exhaled with a whimpering moan. One of his hands desperately clawed at the bark of the tree, while the other switched between gripping tufts of grass and your hair. You loved that you were making him this crazy. Anything he tried to say was completely incoherent. You looked up at him as your bobbed your head, taking pride in the dark red flush of his face. His eyes met yours, sending chills through both of your bodies as soon at you made eye contact. As you pushed your neck forward, taking him all until your reach his girth, your nose pressed against his stomach. As you did, he involuntarily threw his head back, letting out a high-pitched whimpered before it turned into an animalistic, guttural growl. The sound of it made you shiver as you held yourself there, holding your breath and relaxing your gag reflex. You slowly drew back, continuing at your normal pace as David caught his breath. 

He was slouching a little, but you felt him tense a little in his lower abdomen, and you could tell he was close. You continued at your pace, as his breath quickened and outran your speed. His knees began to draw up, and your quickly looked up at his face, keeping up your pace as watching closely. His eyes rolled back in their sockets as he felt it coming. His eyes squeezed shut, his chin tucked into his collar bone as his muscles suddenly contracted. He clenched and unclenched his teeth, moans and breaths coming and going with each muscle contraction, with a short second delay between each of them. Each time he contracted, a thick liquid dripped in your mouth. It wasn't the best taste, something you could only describe as a sour metallic taste, but it didn't matter to you. You swallowed it as it came, only separating your mouth when you knew he was done. He leaned his head against the tree as you leaned up to kiss beneath his jaw in request. He turned his head toward you and meeting your lips to receive a gentle kiss. His eyes half opened as he reveled in his afterglow. You smiled, proud of yourself.

You rezipped his pants and fastened his belt, and sat next to him as he recovered, leaning your head on his shoulder and kissing his cheek, which was burning hot. You stood to adjust your shirt. "Wait, come back," he groaned in protest. He attempted to stand, but his knees gave out and he fell forward into your arms. You giggled. "Give your knees a minute, baby." You said, kissing his forehead. He steadied himself as much as he could, still leaning on you. "It's not fair, I want to make you... mm... f-feel good," he said, too shy to say it. You giggled. "It's not unfair. It's just a little more complicated for girls... but don't worry. You'll get your chance. Tonight maybe?" You smiled with your tongue between your teeth, nuzzling your nose against his. He bit his lip and smiled. 

"Until then, how about that trail ride?" You asked. He perked up, eyes sparkling with glee. "Ooh! Yes!" He squealed. You grabbed his hand and pulled him to the stable.


	11. Trail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter is p much pure fluff so enjoy~)

You walked hand-in-hand with your still blushing boyfriend over to the pasture where the horses were grazing. You had two halters on your shoulder with the lead ropes looped over. Once you reached them, you handed David a halter, assuming he remembered how to put it on the horse. "You take Lucy and I'll take Desi." You smiled at him. He smiled back and took the halter from you. It took him a moment to figure out which way he was supposed to turn it, but eventually he got it on her. "Alrightie, let's go saddle them up!" You smiled, walking to the ring with Desi by your side. He followed just behind you with Lucy beside him.

"Okay, so before we can even start getting ready, you have to have heels on your shoes. Not like stilettos or anything, but like this," you said, grabbing the bottom hem of your jeans and showing him the inch and a half heel you had on your boot. He looked at his own boot, which was pretty much flat on the bottom. "Do you have anything?" You asked, looking up at him. "Uhh... no... no, these are all I have," he shrugged, brows furrowed. You bit your cheek in thought. "Hold on, I'll be right back." 

You jogged to your truck, opening the doors and searching the floor of it. "Aha!" you yelled, loud enough for him to hear. You pulled a pair of dark brown dirty boots from your truck, shutting the doors behind you and running back to David. 

"Luckily I have a pair of my dad's old boots in here. They should fit you," you smiled. You knelt down, putting down a boot to the side of his foot to compare size. "Yeah, these should definitely fit you." He unlaced one of his boots, and tried on the one you gave him. "They fit pretty nicely!" he smiled. Eventually he set aside his own boots and had both of the ones you gave him on.

You guided him along the process of grooming and saddling Lucy, having to help him lift it and put it on the right spot on her back. He got a kick out of putting the bridle in her mouth, because as she opened her mouth she just barely licked his fingers, making him giggle. Once everything was on, you inspected his work, tightening the saddle a few notches because you knew Lucy liked to puff her belly full of air whenever someone put a saddle on her. You had Desi ready to go in no time and were about to get on, when you noticed David looked a bit stressed. "What's wrong, baby?" You asked. He bit his lip. "It's just, umm... I don't know how to get on," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. You smiled. "I think you can mount from the ground another day. I think I saw a boarding block in the tack room, let me get it for you." 

You returned with what looked like a three-step footstool. You set it down toward the edge of the fence, and beckoned David toward you. He obeyed, Lucy following behind. "Okay, bring her right up here, step to her right side," you guided him, lining Lucy up so the steps were on her left side led up to the saddle. "Alrightie, climb up the stairs," you said, taking Lucy's reins from him. He obeyed, standing about two feet taller than he already was when he got on the top step.. He pinched his lips between his teeth, fiddling with his hands as he tried to figure out how to get on from here. "Alright, see that little handle looking thing there on the front of the saddle? That's called the horn. Grab onto it." He did as he was told. "Okay, put the ball of your left foot in that left stirrup there, and then swing your right foot over." He nodded, repeating your instructions to himself silently. He hurled himself onto the saddle, landing in the seat with a soft thump. He looked around once he was up, then smiled brightly at you. "I'm on!" he squealed. You giggled. His pure joy was contagious. "Good job, hun," you smiled, putting the reins over Lucy's head and handing them to David. 

The first thing you noticed was that the stirrups were way too short for his long, spindly legs. "Lift your knee a little bit, sweetheart," you said, gently nudging his leg to the side to adjust the stirrup. You pulled it taut and then grabbed his ankle, guiding his foot into the stirrup. "Does that feel better?" You asked, looking up at him. He nodded with a smile. You highly doubted that he took issue with it in the first place, and was just happy to be on the horse. You did the same thing to the other saddle, then walked over to the original side. He watched you the whole time. You grabbed his heel with your left hand and the toe of the boot, and very gently rotated his whole foot. "Okay, so when you're riding, it's really important that you keep your heels down, and have your feet flat, like they're parallel to the ground." He nodded, craning his next to the other side to make sure his other foot was just the same, then looked back to you. "Next, hold the reins kind of like you're holding an ice cream cone, like this," you said, positioning your hands. He carefully copied them. "Keep your hands in front of the saddle horn here, and just be aware of how much tension you have on her mouth." You reached up for his hands and positioned them carefully. 

Once he was positioned perfectly, you stepped back and smiled. "Alright, give her a little squeeze with your heels to make her walk." He did so very cautiously, and Lucy began to walk forward. He gasped in pure glee, looking back at you like a child squealing 'Look at me!' You smiled. "There you go! Let me get on Desi and teach you a couple quick things before we go." You put on Desi's bridle and flipped the reins over her head. You stood by her left side and grabbed your left foot, lifting it and shoving it in the left stirrup. You grabbed the saddle horn and jumped, swinging your leg over and putting your foot in the stirrup, grabbing the reins. 

You squeezed Desi, cutting across the arena to ride beside David, who was consumed with pure joy. "Okay, so now that you know how to make her go, you need to know how to make her stop. To do that, you just very gently pull back on the reins." You walked Desi a little ahead of him and demonstrated. He tried to replicate it. Lucy's ears moved, but she kept going. "Relax your butt, Davey. She thinks you're half halting." David blushed madly, but did what he was told. Lucy slowed to a stop.

You smiled. "Perfect. It's really important that you don't squeeze her or try to hold onto her with your legs," you began, having Desi walk up to him and Lucy. "Don't yank the reins to keep you on either. The only thing keeping you on this horse is your ass," you added. He blushed at your vulgarity, which made you snicker. "As long as you keep your muscles relaxed, you'll stay on sturdy. Next thing I'm gonna teach you is the one rein stop. Lucy is a really good girl, so I doubt you'll need this, but since it's a new environment and it's just an important thing to know anyway, I'm gonna teach you." You squeezed Desi and she walked forward. You squeezed her again and clicked your tongue against your teeth and she began to trot. After you led her in a couple circles, you pulled one of your reins and brought her nose almost to her foot. She came to a stop. 

"This is really important, because if for some reason they decide to take off, this is the fastest and easiest way to stop them. If they're not facing forward, they can't go anywhere, so they stop. Give it a try," you called to David from halfway across the arena. He looked down at Lucy as he squeezed her gently. As he passed you, you clicked your tongue at Lucy, and she started a slow trot. The change in gait startled David. "It's alright, babe," you comforted him. "Just relax your muscles." He listened to you, slowly easing his muscles. After he circled the arena once, you spoke up. "Alright, give it a try." He very gently pulled on one rein, leading her in a big circle at first but eventually got her to stop. He looked at you as soon as she did. You gave him a thumbs up. "Alright, that pretty much sums it up! Let's go," you said. You headed toward him and had Desi make a U-turn around him. He squeezed Lucy and the two horses walked side by side.

"Alright, last thing is to make her turn. If you want her to go left, pull her left rein a little and push against her using your right leg. If you want her to go right, pull on her left rein and push with your left foot." You moved Desi to the side to give him room to try it out. As he practiced, he managed to make Lucy walk in a zig-zag pattern. "You're a natural!" you smiled back at him. You moved Desi back over so you were riding side-by-side. He smiled brightly back at you. "You're so cute," you giggled. 

You relaxed, holding Desi's reins in one hand as the two horses walked into the forest. She walked contently, head bobbing and ears pointed forward as she took in the new sights and sounds and smells. Lucy was rather relaxed, and suddenly reached down with her head to snatch a mouthful of grass. When she did so, the reins nearly jerked from David's hands and caused him to panic. "Hey, no biggie, she's just trying to grab some grass. When she does it, just squeeze her forward." "Squeeze her forward?" David asked, trying to gather up his reins again. "Squeeze her sides so she picks up her head and walks a bit quicker. Sorry, I'm gonna use some weird terms, just ask me if you don't understand," you laughed. As Lucy dipped her head down for more grass, David squeezed her with his legs and she picked up her head. "Good job," You said, getting a proud smile from David.

You held his hand as the horses walked, listening to the birds chirping and wind shaking the trees. "I love you," he said softly, out of the blue. He gripped your hand a little tighter. You turned to him. "I love you too." you replied, a joyful smile spreading on your cheeks. "I don't tell you enough. But just... every time you smile at me, it makes my day better. If you weren't there for me, to make me feel happier, I don't know if I'd be anywhere near this happy. I just love you, and your personality. I hope you know that." He smiled, making his eyes squint with joy. A happy blush tinted his cheeks. "I'm so glad you feel that way, (y/n)," he finally said. "When you came here, and you were so eager to be a part of this camp, I thought you were a dream come true. I came out to see how you were doing that one morning-" "-Where you thought I was gonna kill you with the chainsaw?" He giggled. "Yes, that morning. I just came out to say hi, because I saw you drive by. But something just told me to volunteer to help you, and I kept doing it just to spend time with you. I developed a silly little crush, but I was certain you didn't feel the same way about me. But as much as I tried to push it to the back of my mind, or deny it, my crush just got bigger and bigger. When I saw you talk about your love for horses, and the way your eyes lit up, I think that's when I knew I was in love with you." Your heart swelled as he told you this, making your cheeks glow pink. Your hands were still connected between the horses.

"When we were going down to the lakeside, I really wanted to invite you. Maybe so we could spend some time doing something other than building the fence. I was really glad I could convince you, because it just made me love you even more," he continued. "Then the next morning, I decided to start early. I didn't want to use your chainsaw, because I didn't know how to use it, and I was afraid I'd break it. So I went and got my ax. But I cut the wedge wrong, and it ended up falling on my leg. It was so painful, it was the only thing I could focus on, and I thought I was too far from the fence for anyone to see or hear me, which just made me more upset. But then you came by and saved me, and the way you were just so kind and caring... I just knew I was totally in love. I had no reason to think you felt the same way, but I decided to ask you anyway. When you kissed me, I almost fainted from joy. It was the best day of my life." You were so giddy you thought you might float right off the saddle. 

"I think that as soon as I heard your voice on the phone, I was interested. Your personality was just so big, I just loved it whenever you were around. I thought that you were volunteering to help me because you were just being nice, and that was who you were. But when we were at the beach together, in the water, I felt like a kid again. I wasn't sure if I was being too bold, or you were just being nice. But I was so glad when you asked to be together, I couldn't help but kiss you. It's just been bliss ever since." You said, punctuating by gently squeezing his hand. He gave you a loving smiled, squeezing your hand back.


	12. Please Stay

The two of you rode back toward the arena after about an hour. You would have ridden through the camp, but you didn't trust any of the kids not to spook the horses, especially Nurf. You dismounted and took Desi's bridle off, then put the halter on that was still attached to the fence. You hung the bridle on your shoulder and were about to take off Desi's saddle when you noticed David was still on Lucy.

"What's wrong? You can dismount now," you said, walking over to Lucy. "I, um.. I don't know how," he said sheepishly, barely audible. "Oh shit, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting this is your first time. Okay, lean on your left leg and swing your right leg over and lay on your tummy on the saddle so both your feet hang over, then slide down." He listened and very carefully swung his right leg over, laying slung over the saddle. You playfully smacked him on the bottom, making him squeal.. "Y/n!" he whined. "Sorry, I had to." you giggled.

He still hesitated to come down. "David, you're like twenty feet tall, there's barely any space between you and the ground right now." He lowered himself extremely slowly. Eventually, you grabbed him by the belt and yanked him downward. His feet thumped in the dirt and you pulled Lucy's reins over her head. David was blushing madly. "She's not even the tallest horse I have," you laughed. 

You took off the bridle and hung it on your shoulder with the other one, and attached her to the fence the same way you did with Desi. You loosened and took off the straps on Desi's saddle, taking it and flipping it over the seat so you didn't trip on it as you carried it. You had the saddle and the bridles put away by the time David had the saddle unstrapped. He took it off and struggled with it. You took it from him and turned to put it away. You felt a sharp slap on your behind and you tensed, almost dropping the saddle. You whipped around to see David with an evil smirk on his face. "Got you back," he snickered. You blushed and wrinkled your nose, sticking your tongue out at him before putting the saddle away. 

When you came out, you untied the Desi's lead rope. "Alright, let's put these guys out for some grass." David untied Lucy's lead and followed you. After you were well inside the pasture, you took off their halters. "Tomorrow I'll start lessons. You wanna help me with that?" You asked him over your shoulder. He gasped. "Ooh, yes!" You giggled. "Perfect. It's set, then." You grabbed his hand and made your way back to the fence opening. You let go of his hand and put your arm around his waist, his arm going around your shoulder. You leaned on him as the both of you walked slowly. You slowly slid your hand down to push your fingers into his back pocket. He squirmed a little and blushed, making you giggle. 

When the two of you got back to the camp, you had taken your hands off of each other. Kids were running around every which way, except for Max, who had his hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets and looked unamused as usual. "What were you two doing?" he asked, glaring up at you. "Trail riding," you answered simply, intending on walking straight past him. "Riding what, David?" he said sarcastically. David's face drained of all color. You turned to look at Max, but saw David in your peripherals. "Yes. I taught him to jump fences," You said, laughing and rolling your eyes. Despite his pissy attitude, you acted like it was a joke, because the last thing you needed was a rumor spread by him throughout the whole camp. "Anyway, you guys start tomorrow. Get pumped." 

You walked past him, letting out a strained breath as soon as you were out of earshot. You turned at saw David at your heels. Now that he was away from Max, the complete lack of color in his face came back full force. His face was so red it was almost purple. It spread to his ears and even down his neck. "Hey, settle down, everything's fine," you said, giving him a smile. His nervousness didn't falter. "Wh- I- I'm... We-" He tried to form a sentence, but could only stumble on his tongue. "D-Did he see us..?" he finally managed in a cracked whisper. You stopped and grabbed both of his hands, cupping them between yours. "David, no he didn't. He's just being a smartass like always. He's teasing us because we've been spending a lot of time together. That's all," you whispered. He nodded along, trying to convince himself. He attempted to swallow, but choked and coughed. "Hey, calm down. Breathe, love. In through your nose," you encouraged, inhaling with him. "Hold it," you said, the both of you holding your breath. "And let it go for five full seconds." You looked him in the eyes as his chest fall. You repeated it four more times, until he seemed to calm down. "Are you okay now?" you asked quietly. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, thanks." he whispered. You smiled at him. "Why don't you go take a shower?" You proposed. "You're all sweaty and nervous and you smell like horse." You smirked. He scoffed. "I smell like horse? Please." You giggled. "Alright, alright. Tell you what. After the kids go to bed, we'll take a shower together." His eyes widened as his flustery shyness came back, though you could tell he was eager. "Ooh, okay," he said quietly. You smiled and stood on your toes to kiss his cheek, then walked to the Mess Hall for something to drink. 

David followed suit, which made you giggle. "David, you're like a lost puppy," you said, twisting off the cap of a water bottle with a crack. "S-Sorry," he said, dipping his head down as you took a drink. You smiled. "It's okay, hun. You don't have to stick by me if you don't want to. I'm still around here," you smiled. "S-sorry. I just have some... separation issues, I guess," he shrugged. You tsk, furrowing your brows. "Awww, baby..." You held his hand and nuzzled your head beneath his chin. He wrapped his arms around you and held you close, embracing you tightly. "Am I dreaming?" He asked, out of the blue. "What?" you whispered. "I wanna know if I'm dreaming... If I'm gonna wake up and you're gonna be gone." You stared up at him in shock. His eyes were glossy. "David, you're awake. You're here. I'm here. We're here. With each other. Nothing's going to happen. I love you," you said softly, cupping his cheek. He leaned his face into your touch. "Who hurt you..?" you said, barely above a whisper. He sighed, lifting one hand to rest on the one you had on his cheek. "This woman... I was in love with. I loved her, but she didn't love me. She only really wanted me for... you know..." he shrugged. You used your thumb to caress his face. "I love you, David. I love you for every part of you. I love your smile, your joy, your kindness, your heart... I even love the part of you that is shy and timid." "I'm just afraid I'm going to drive you away with my... insecurities." He veered his eyes to the side. "Never. Absolutely not." You assured him. "I'm more than happy to help you in whatever ways I can, and make you happy. Whether that be talking, hugging, helping you breathe... When you love someone, you fall in love with every part of them, even the things that they aren't proud of. If you can't handle it, you're just not in love." You said. He looked back to you and smiled weakly. He hugged you tightly again and you returned it. 

"Now, let's get out of the kitchen, before the Quartermaster comes in here and beats us with whatever prosthetic he's using." You grinned. He giggled, quite relieved. You took his hand and intertwined your fingers with his, your bottle of water in one hand, and sat down on one of the tables and waited for the kids to file in.


	13. Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Slight nsfw at the end, won't get full on smut 'till the next one though)

As you ate your dinner, you wondered if any of the campers were spreading rumors. You figured it would be kind of stupid to make an announcement, because who cares? It's just a relationship. David sat beside you, quietly and contently eating his own dinner. You hardly left each other's sides since, well... ever. You knew that the kids would be gossiping. And they were. You saw kids looking over at the two of you and whispering and giggling. You pretended not to notice. They were kids, anyway. It wasn't like you were getting crazy with PDA. All you ever did was sit or stand by each other whenever you were around the kids. So they could gossip all they like. But then you thought about Max's comment earlier. You wondered if he had started a rumor, and your food suddenly became harder to swallow. 

David somehow noticed your change in attitude. "Hey, is something wrong with your food?" he asked, nudging you gently with his elbow, fork still in hand.He looked at you with a soft, caring smile. You snapped out of it. "No, no, it's fine. I'm just..." Suddenly Gwen slammed her tray down in front of you, plopping down across the table. She immediately put her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her palms. Her eyes sparkled. "Tell me all about it!" She beamed widely. Both of you blinked at the same time. "Tell you what?" you asked. "You know!" she blurted, rolling her eyes, but kept grinning. "Is it true?" "Is what true?" David asked. "Stop playing dumb! You guys are dating, right?!" she whispered excitedly. You said nothing as her eyes searched yours. She looked to David and gasped. "You are!" You turned to look at him. His face was flushed pink. "I knew it! I knew it from the start!" Gwen squealed. "What are you talking about?" You asked. "Oh, come on! The first night he didn't come back to the counselor's cabin, I knew what was up. What was I supposed to think?" In the corner of your eye, you could see David's face getting redder. "I was... taking care of his ankle," you shrugged. "(y/n), please. I've watched too much trash tv to know that's not what happened. You can't fool me." You sighed in defeat, and shrugged. "Alright, alright. You got us. We're dating," you admitted. She squealed in delight. "Oh em gee! I knew it. I just knew it!" 

"Why is this so interesting to you anyway?" You asked, chuckling in amusement. "Because I am the queen of this sort of thing. Besides, I have nothing better to entertain myself here." "Hey, I happen to think this place is quite exciting!" David said, crossing his arms. "Oh, shut up, David. It's only exciting for you because now you have- actually, I better not say that around children," Gwen said. She folded her fingers together. "By the way, fuck you guys for leaving me out of this! You could have at least told me." You laughed. "Sorry, Gwen." "It's personal!" David whined, frowning as his blush spread to his ears. "That's exactly why I'm interested in it." she shrugged. "Is that what all the kids are talking about, too?" you asked, glancing to a table across the room of whispering kids. "Kinda. Apparently there's some rumor going around. Something about you fucking in the woods?" David's face went completely beet red and he slammed his head down onto his tray. "Max?" You sighed, looking to Gwen. "Probably Max." she shrugged. She opened her mouth to say something, but you stopped her. "It's not true, by the way. Seriously. It's not," you said, sensing her doubt. 

You touched David on his shoulder, having to physically pull his face out of his mashed potatoes. You used both your napkin and his to clean his face off. You and Gwen went back to finishing your dinner, but he had lost his appetite, and pushed his tray away from him. He veered his eyes over to see Max smirking devilishly at him, and couldn't bear to keep eye contact with him. He sat silently beside you. You sensed his unease and gently held his hand beneath the table, your thumb gently grazing over the back of his hand to calm him a little. When dinner was over, nobody could focus on a single activity, especially David, who could hardly complete a sentence. For the remainder of the evening he was flushed and exasperated, so you and Gwen took over for the most part while he stood behind. Before you dismissed everyone to their tents, you spoke up. "Oh, and if you should go to bed tonight with a rumor festering in your mind, please at least take it to the source before you spread it. Though it can't spread much farther now, can it?" A couple of kids looked around nervously, while a few snickered. Then they all turned and filed into their tents.

"I'm guessing you guys want some time alone?" Gwen asked, waggling her eyebrows. "That would be great." You said, gesturing to your nervous boyfriend. She nodded and went inside the counselor's cabin, but not before winking and pointing excessively. You turned toward him, taking both of his hands in your and looking up at him. "Hey, it's alright, sweetheart. They're kids. They always spread rumors like this. You and I both know that it's not true... and Max was the one who started it, for crying out loud." He looked to the ground. "I-I know, but it's just so..." "I know, hun. It's just so Max." He shrugged in shy agreement. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up. Not only do you smell like horse, but now you've got mashed potatoes in your hair." You said, coaxing a small smile out of him. 

You parted ways to briefly get a change of clothes and met up again at the showers. You made sure to lock it tightly before stripping down and turning the water on. David was purposefully stalling, shy as usual. You smirked and walked up to him. His eyes widened and searched the sight of you, before he quickly veered his eyes away. You giggled as you wrapped your arms around his neck, standing on your tip toes to kiss him softly. You lowered yourself back down to your heels, untying his bandana-shirt and dropping it behind him. With your hands still behind his neck, your scratched your fingers along his upper back, which gathered up his shirt until you were able to pull it off. You then wrapped your arms around his waist and you delicately kissed his collar bone. He bit his lip and desperately tried to figure out what to do with his hands. "Take off your boots, babe," you said, looking up at him. He took a step back and quickly did so, taking off his socks as well, then stepped back up to you. You smiled and continued with what you were doing. Your fingers ran along the perimeter of his belt behind him, plucking at his belt loops every now and then. You then reached around and unbuckled it, pushing your fingers down between his skin and his shorts and boxers, and pulling it down. He curled inward on himself shyly, but stepped out of his garments. You kicked them farther behind him. 

You grabbed his hand and led him to the shower head you had running. You held your free hand out to feel the temperature, figuring it was good enough, and stepped under it, pulling him with you. He squealed. "It's cold!" he whimpered, trying to pull away. "No it's not, you big baby," you giggled, wrapping your arms around his waist and pulling him flush against you. "It's too coooold!" He whined. You laughed, "Alright alright, David. I'll make it warmer." You looked over your shoulder and took one hand from his waist to turn the knob. "Now it's too hot!" He said quickly. "David!" You couldn't help but laugh. He laughed as well, his own arms wrapping around you as your other hand returned to his waist. You leaned against him and he leaned on you, relaxing as the water washed away your stress. 

You grabbed a loofah and squeezed some shower gel onto it, then pressed it against his chest firmly. He wasn't expecting it and nearly fell backward. You giggled, rubbing suds into his skin. He put his hand on it and you let him have it. He pressed it onto your chest and you almost slipped. "Jesus!" you yelped, grabbing his arm. The both of you laughed, and you playfully slapped him on the arm. You took it back from him and started scrubbing. When you got between his shoulder and neck, his shoulders suddenly jerked up to his ears and he snickered. You raised your brows. "Oh, we're ticklish, hmm?" You smiled devilishly. "No. No! No I'm not!" he squeaked, drawing up his shoulders and putting his arms up for double defense. You giggled. "Noted." You scrubbed his arms as he protected himself, then moved to his sides and his hips, eventually getting to his v-line, where he fell silent. "Turn around." you said softly. "Huh?" "Turn around," you repeated, looking up at him. It took him a second for his eyes to meet yours, then he slowly did as you asked. You started at the back of his neck where his hair began, then scrubbed in circular motions all the way down his back. 

You gave him a quick smack on the behind, making him shriek in surprise and turn around. "Done!" You smiled up at him. His hands came away from his neck and held his backside, his cheeks glowing pink. "That's what you get for protecting the wrong spot," you smirked, holding out the loofah. He curled his lip and took it from you. You held out your arms to the side a bit, inviting him. He started at your collarbone, going down each of your arms before coming back to your breasts, where he became extra gentle and shy. You smirked and watched his movements. When he was done he twirled his finger. "Turn around." You did as he asked, holding your hands behind your back, knowing he was going to try to get you back. He started at your lower back, washing delicately along your curves. You closed your eyes and relaxed into his touch. He worked his way up to your shoulder blades, then tried washing your neck. "Hold up your hair, please?" You reached up with both hands to hold it up for him, only the receive a sharp smack on your behind. You gasped and whipped around. He was grinning with pride. "Daviiid! I didn't even smack you that hard!" You whimpered. "Yes you did," he said, rotating his hips so you could see the mark you had left. You looked over your shoulder to see you had a matching mark. "Alright, touche, smartass," you said, putting a hand on your hip as you laughed. You playfully snatched the loofah back from him. He looked at you smugly until you started kneeling, and his face turned to shock. You simply started to scrub his legs, feigning innocence as he watched you. "I don't know why you're looking at me like that, David," you smirked. "Stop it," he muttered, swiping his hand at your statement. You giggled. When you were done, you handed the loofah to him simply. He took it and did the same thing to you. You pretended you didn't mind with a smug smirk on your face, until he started to gently rub your inner thighs. You tried to fight the urge to tense your muscles. Right when you were about to open your mouth to whimper, he stood up, handing you the loofah with a smirk. 

You squinted at him, then rinsed out the loofah as well as your body, taking extra care to conceal yourself as best you could to tease him. Then you grabbed the bottle of shampoo, squeezing a dollop onto your hands and standing on your toes to rub it into his hair. He dipped his head down to help you. You worked it through his hair, combing your fingers through it. You then pulled his face down into your chest so his head was directly beneath the stream of water. He almost fell and had to grab onto your hips to steady himself. You bit your lip to stifle a laugh, then let him go when his hair was rinsed. The longer hair from his fauxhawk dropped downward and stuck to his forehead, making you giggle. His cheeks were pink, but he giggled. "I don't know how to counter that without being way too forceful." You laughed, grabbing and handing him the shampoo bottle. "I'll just faceplant in your boobs then," you said, walking up to him and leaning your forehead on his chest. He laughed, which shook your head up and down, causing you to laugh as well. He poured some shampoo onto your hair, and worked it in with his fingers. It felt really nice on your scalp and you relaxed, your hands on his waist to keep you from leaning on him too much and falling down. He had to lean you forward a bit to rise your hair out, running his fingers through it to get all the suds out. As he did, he admired your face lovingly, and kissed your forehead. You smiled happily. For the remainder of the shower you ran your hands along his chest and torso as he ran his along your curves, kissing you delicately. 

You reached around him and gripped his behind, making him stiffen and squeal. You giggled. "Oopsie." You smiled up at him innocently. He lowered his brows as he smirked at you. "Alright, missy. Someone ought to teach you a lesson," he said, twitching one of his brows. "Oh yeah, cowboy? Teach me," you challenged. You smirked and reached up and bit his neck, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to make him jump. Suddenly he wrapped his arm around you to keep you from falling as he leaned forward and shut off the water. You weren't sure if it was the lack of warm water or his sudden dominance that made a chill wrack your spine.


	14. Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut + Adorable fluff at the end

Both of you skipped getting dressed and ran to your cabin in nothing but towels. As soon as you crossed the threshold of the door, and David slipped past you, you slammed the door and locked it with the hand that wasn't clutching your towel to you. 

A big smile occupied his face since you'd left the showers. You had skipped getting dressed, grabbing your clothes and wrapping a towel around yourselves, quickly making your way to your cabin. As soon as he crossed the threshold, you shut the door and locked it, turning toward him. He smiled sweetly at you, and you gave him a smirk.

You pushed him down on the bed playfully. He yipped and tried to catch himself, but failed, chuckling. You giggled and let your towel fall off your body. He ogled at the sight of you. You grabbed his and pulled it so hard it came out from under him, making him draw his knees up a bit in surprise. You knelt in front of him without breaking eye contact. 

You rested your elbow on his thigh as your hand gently gripped his already stiff cock, slowly pumping it. The muscles in his lower abdomen tightened as his breath caught. You closed your eyes and gently kissed the base of it, feeling it get stiffer as he moaned through his teeth. When it was hard enough, you opened your mouth and took him in, inch by inch. He let out a guttural moan, one hand gripping your hair while the other grabbed a handful of your bedsheet. His knees drew apart a bit as his pelvis tilted upward. 

As he sighed and moaned, you reached your free hand down to pay attention to yourself. You sat back on your heels, your middle and ring fingers going to work slowly. You moaned, the vibration from your throat making him shiver out a moan. You started moving your fingers quicker, flicking your wrist faster underneath you, as you took him in deeper into your mouth. He felt helpless, being unable to pleasure you since you were down on the floor, and whimpered. He started to move, but you used your arm to pin his hips, sinking your head down deeper. David let out a scoff-like sound of pleasure, his head tilting back as he whined. You started to use more suction and his moans became louder. Before too long he started quivering and breathing heavier, and quickly sat up, grabbing either side of your head and separating you from him. Your eyes widened as you looked up at him with shock. Did you do something wrong? You observed him for just a second and you understood why. His hands trembled as he restrained himself from touching any part of his trembling body, biting his knuckles and fingers. You carefully placed your hands on his hips to ground him as he came away from the edge. It surprised you. Two things did, actually. One, that it happened so quickly. Either you were good at this, or he was really into it. Maybe both. And two, he was so adorably considerate of your needs that he was denying himself, which you knew was so difficult it was almost painful.

David finally caught his breath and grabbed the hand of yours that he could reach, pulling you up and scooting back on the bed to make room for you. You stood and sat beside him on the bed, you hands resting behind his ears as you brought your lips to his. His hands ever so gently went to your waist, planing his fingertips over your skin, making your tickle and tingle and shiver.

His palm pressed flush against your tight stomach, slowly pushing. You let him lay you down, both of you knowing full well he wouldn't be able to wrestle you and win. He stayed sitting, leaning over your body to keep your lips connected as one of his and your legs hung off the side of the bed, his other leg tucked under him while your other leg rested beside him. 

He kissed you softly and tenderly, but with an underlying need that you could both feel. One hand crept beneath you to the arch of your back, while the hand that was on your stomach travelled up to one of your breasts. He kneaded and squeezed it, playing with your nipple as you moaned against his lips. One arm hooked around his neck, you reached down with your other hand to make up for the neglect in your womanhood. His lips separated from you and reconnected at your neck, kissing down to your collarbone and then to your neglected breast, his hot breath and tongue making your eyes flicker. You pinched your lips between your teeth and moaned, your fingers travelling through his hair and attempting to grip it, though it was just a little too short. His hand then gently grazed down your curve from your waist to your hip, and finally to your other hand, gently pushing it out of his way. You bit the knuckle of said hand in anticipation.

He took two fingers, rubbing you up and down before settling to rub circles into your clit. Your hips rotated as your legs instinctively spread open, your back curving in his other hand. Your fingers gripped his hair tighter as you watched his movements, whimpering. He gently kissed your neck, your cheek, and eventually your lips, causing you to take your fingers out of your mouth and kiss him back. He then rested his forehead against yours, taking in your facial expressions from what he could see, making sure he was doing it right, softly smiling with every loud moan and whimper you let out, your face contorting with pleasure.

He then sat back, moving your legs a bit and repositioning himself between them, his fingers travelling lower. He slowly inserted his ring finger, moving it back and forth carefully and watching your face as you moaned, before he inserted his index finger, keeping his wrist movements fluid as he slowly began to lean down, watching and listening to you. He stuck out his tongue and pressed it against your sensitive clit, holding it there as you gasped. When he thought it was right, he began to lick you slowly, dragging his tongue ever so slowly across your clit before he drew back and did it again. He was rewarded with plentiful moans from you, letting him know he was doing a good job. 

He then closed his mouth around it, licking and sucking it gently, slowly getting firmer as your moans increased. He put a third finger in now, revelling in your reaction. You felt your orgasm approaching quickly. You wanted to pull away, or just tell him, but you were paralyzed and struck dumb with pleasure. It more or less came as a surprise to him when you started convulsing with moans and gasps, and he had to literally hang onto you with his hands and face. When you stopped he separated from you, rising to set his hands on either side of you, giving you a sweet smile. "You okay?" he whispered. You gave him an exasperated nod. "You are... really good at that... For as shy and reserved as you seem," you panted. "U-Uhm, well... thank you!" He blushed and smiled. Your hands moved to the back of his neck, and he happily kissed you until you recovered, which only took you a short time.

You sat up to meet him. It was your turn to push him down now, laying him on his back. You crawled over him, sitting back so your bottom pressed his upper thighs due to his knees being raised slightly, and pressed your lips against his again. Your hands cupped his jaw as his ran up and down your back and hips. 

After a moment you sat up, telling him to sit up and prop himself on your pillows. He obeyed, looking to you expectantly after he did so. "Alright, cowboy," You said, leaning down so you were a few inches from his face. "You ready?" You didn't have to ask him, because you could feel him pressing against your backside. "Mmhmm," he moaned, barely adible, with a small nod, a newfound blush on his face upon you calling him cowboy, biting his lip. His dominance seemed to fluctuate, which you loved. It surprised you whenever it showed itself, but you liked being able to make him blush like this. 

You kneeled, lifting yourself up and reaching under your thighs to position him. You lowered yourself slowly, moaning from the back of your throat until you sitting at his hilt. You positioned your hands just below his chest to support yourself. His hands moved to gently hold your hips. His breath hitched as you started to move your hips ever so slowly. He watched your face carefully, absorbing every sign of pleasure you showed. You opened your eyes slowly, looking for the same thing in his face as the two of you moaned softly. 

You kept your slow pace, but moved your hips from his hilt all the way to his tip and back down again. You breathed deeply, sitting up a little more and pushing down on him harder in turn. His back pressed flush against the pillows, but he fought to sit up to get closer to you, not satisfied. You arched your back and he pulled you closer by your back. You moaned inwardly and grabbed the hand he wasn't pulling you with, placing it on your breast. He had to think for a moment before he started to fondle it, glancing between his hand and your face to make sure he was doing everything right. 

As you moved your hips, you started to push down harder, making both of you moan louder the first time you did it. He brought his face to your neglected breast, gently dragging his tongue over your nipple. You pressed your lips together and moaned, gripping his still damp hair with one hand. His hand slid from your hip to the back of your rib cage, leaning back into the pillows and pulling you with him, your weight shifting forward. As soon as it did he started to maneuver his hips. 

You whimpered as he started to move faster, pulling his face to yours and kissing him passionately. You moaned against his lips and moved faster, your hips clashing against each other. You broke the kiss for air, moaning heavily as he moved even faster, sending chills and tingles throughout your lower body. You nearly fell forward, bracing yourself against his chest. He wrapped his arms around you and started thrusting harder. You gasped and moaned into his neck, making him shiver. Your womanhood tingled strongly and spread to your stomach. All you could do was moan and whimper and push your hips to meet his with each thrust. 

You fought with the pleasure to meet his efforts, and began to feel an ecstatic tingling in your sex. You sat up slightly, seeing his facial expression change, and knew he was feeling it, too. Both of your breathing and moans quickened. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" you whimpered, as the tingling began to grow more and more intense with each second, about to hit your breaking point. "Fuck! Ohh, David! David!" You moaned loudly. Your muscles spasmed as your orgasm took over your body, moaning his name again and again, hardly aware that you were even doing it. Your body became dead weight on top of him when it was finally over. "(y/n)! (y/n)!" he moaned, lifting you up and toward himself rather roughly with a strength you didn't know he had, petrified of coming inside of you. He just barely managed to get out of you before he dropped you down on top of him again. You sat up hazily, gripping his wet cock and pumping it quickly, knowing he was going to blue ball himself if he or you didn't do this. You gently kissed his neck as his moans continued, getting louder and louder, trying to form words that were just completely incoherent until he was almost yelling, bracing himself.

His back curved and he bucked sharply, spilling onto your hand and himself as you continued your movements. His moans shifted to a higher pitch as he rode it out, with your help. You hadn't felt it initially, but his hands were gripping your upper back, what little fingernails he had digging into your skin. They loosened slowly as his moaned stopped and he tried to catch his breath.

You sat up as he let go, his hands sliding down your sides and resting on your thighs. You licked your hand off, looking up at him as you did so. He still breathed heavily, his face, ears and chest flushed red hot. When you finished, you leaned forward laid on top of him, cuddling up to him and resting your head in the crook of his neck. His lifted his knees a little bit, his upper thighs pressing against your butt, keeping you firmly in place as his arms wrapped around you. He kissed your head softly and laid his head down. "Good job, cowboy," you whispered, smirking. He looked over to you and simply kissed you. "Thank you, baby." he replied, resting his head and staring at you with half-lidded eyes. You smiled. There was the confidence again. You grabbed the blanket, the two of you having to maneuver yourselves to get under it. You scooched up as close to him as you could manage, with him on his back and you on your side. You lifted your knee and slung it over him, wrapping your arms around him before he wrapped his around you. No sooner did you get comfortable than when you realized the lamp was on. It wouldn't be so bad, but in your exact position, the bulb peeped out from under the lampshade and assaulted your eyes. You grunted. "David, turn the light off!" you groaned, hiding your eyes in his chest.

He reached his arm out, his fingertips just under a foot away. "I can't reach it." he said simply. You looked up, your gaze following his arm before shifting to David, who was looking at you with a smug look on his face. "You're not even trying!" You whined, making him laugh. "David, turn the light off!" You repeated, burying your face into his chest and pressing harder. "I seriously can't reach it!" he said, giggling. "Get up, then!" you said, your voice muffled. "You get up," he replied, plopping his head down on the pillow. "You're closer!" you shot back. "You're closer," he mocked quietly, prompting you to lift your head to look at him, immediately making him laugh. "David, turn the fucking light off!" You tried to say sternly, but couldn't help laughing halfway through. "I'm comfy!" He replied. "I'm not! I'm going blind over here. And you're closer, so you gotta turn it off!" "You're the one who wants it off!" You let out a long, loud, exaggerated groan as you rolled over. David giggled the entire time. You comically grumbled under your breath as you walked all the way around the bed to get to the nightstand. "All this over a god damn lamp," you added to your mumbling, a sharp smack coming across your bottom the second the light went off. You squealed, then looked at David, whom you could barely see. You guessed he had an evil smirk on his face. "David, you-" You pounced onto the bed, landing across him. Both of you laughed. 

"Is that why you refused to turn the damn light off?" David giggled inwardly. "Maybe." You gave him a playful smack on the cheek, adding to his giggling. "Alright, let me under the blanket," you said, shaking your head in amusement. He quickly pressed his arms down on either side of the blanket, stopping you from lifting it up. "Nope. Access denied." You shot him a look that he couldn't see in the dark, but was obvious in your voice. "David-" He broke into another fit of giggling. "If don't let me in there-" "What? What're you gonna do?" he challenged jokingly, but froze when he felt you leave the bed. His eyes fought to adjust to the dark, looking for movement, but found nothing. He held his breath to listen, but the cabin was completely silent. He gulped. "(Y/n)..?" He opened his mouth to say something else, when you seized his ankles.

You yanked his ankles so hard he came all the way off the bed and landed on the floor. You jumped onto the bed and took his place, yanking the blanket and wrapping the whole thing around yourself. You plopped down, curled up in a ball with the entire blanket and faced the end of the bed. It took David at least a solid five seconds to realize what just happened. He stood up off the cold floor. "Oh, oh, okay," he said, making you laugh from within your blanket coccoon. "Am I gonna have to turn the light on again?" he threatened. "The light don't bother me now! I got a shield. But, you know, if you wanna turn the light back on, I'll be happy to look atcha." David curled his lip in defeat. 

"Lemme back in the blanket, I'm cold," he said, crawling back onto the bed. "Lemme back in the blanket, I'm cold," you imitated in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. His eyes adjusted a bit more, and he looked for where ever your face was sticking out of the blanket ball. "I don't sound like that!" he whined. You giggled, and he was able to make a guess where your head was. You curled inward, your face disappearing inside. He laid on his side and grabbed as much of it as he could, pulling it and you closer. "(y/nnnnnn)..!" he whined, faking a shiver. "You won't even save your boyfriend from the bitter cold?" He said, his face pressed into the blanket ball. "I think you missed the fact that your girlfriend's a bitch!" You called from inside, your voice muffled hilariously. "She is not!" he started plucking at what edges of the blanket he could find, looking for and failing to find an opening. "Come on, please! My fingers are turning blue. And I'm... naked. I'll die of hypothermia soon. I'll be dead!" You tsked, and opened it up like a wing. "Alright, come here. Poor boy's got no clothes in the brutal winter out there." 

His eyes were adjusted just enough to see the opening, and he scooched toward you, letting out a tiny, "Yay!" You pulled him in, wrapping your arm around him. He curled up in a tight ball, his head nestled under your chin. "What did we learn?" you said, nuzzling his hair. "That my girlfriends a bitch?" he said, though he couldn't say it without laughing. "Language," you said in your ridiculous imitation of him. Both of you giggled. "Correct though." You added. 

"You're really not though. I-I'm sorry for saying that, I didn't mean it," he said, looking up at you, though it was pitch black inside. You tsked, grabbing his head behind his ear and kissing the top of his head. "You're so precious. I know, David." David's face glowed a soft pink as he nestled back into your skin. "I love you," he replied, his eyes scanning the dark. "I love you too, David." You said, curling up against him. You had no clue what was his stomach or arm or leg, due to the dark and tight confinement, but it felt like you had your legs resting on top of his, while his arms wrapped around your torso. His face was almost pressed into your boobs. "I want to kiss you right now, but... I don't think I could find your lips properly," he giggled. You giggled as well, the vibration of your chest resonating on his cheek. "That's okay. You can kiss me tomorrow." you smiled. "Okay," he said eagerly, closing his eyes. "Night, David." you smiled, closing yours as well, your arms wrapping around him, both of you asleep before long.


	15. First Lessons (Part 1)

When you awoke, you were still tangled up in your boyfriend. As you slept, the blankets had moved around, exposing your back and head, but leaving David and the rest of you swaddled inside. You craned your neck down, kissing the top of his head. His hair smelled fresh and clean, with a softness that tickled your face. The scent of ivory filled the blanket-- a smell you could always faintly sense coming from him. 

Your heart fluttered when he stirred, a soft moan sounding from the back of his throat. You trailed your fingers through his hair, alerting him that you were also awake. "Good morning!" he said sweetly. "Good morning," you giggled. He craned his neck up, smiling at you. "I can see you now," he smiled, pursing his lips in request. You smiled and leaned forward, meeting him halfway. His lips softened upon contact, lengthening the kiss beyond a quick peck. You separated with a soft smack and rested your head.

"Today's the day!" You said happily. "For horseback riding camp?" he asked, smiling up at you. His teal eyes sparkled, making him look just as excited as you felt. "Mhm!" You nodded. "We better get ready, then!" He grinned. In response, you sat up, unfurling the blanket from around the two of you. He had forgotten neither of you were clothed and blushed. He attempted to cover himself, and looked away from you with respect. You giggled. "David. I've seen you naked and you've seen me naked, you don't have to cover up." You stood up casually and went to your drawer, grabbing a sports bra. 

David peered at you secretively, though you knew he was looking. You took your time, putting on a clean pair of boy shorts and a sports bra. You tightened the straps a bit and then pulled on the bottom band just above your ribs. You brushed your hair thoroughly before running your fingers through it to make it sit just as you wanted. You turned to see David still sitting on the bed, looking at you with stars in his eyes and a smile on his face. 

You smiled. "What?" David sat criss-cross on the bed, his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand. "You're so beautiful," he said dreamily, blinking slowly. You swiped your hand through the air and stepped forward. You held his head in your hands and kissed his cheek, then kissed him softly on the lips. "You're so sweet." You sighed happily. "I love you," he smiled. "I love you too," you smiled back, kissing him softly on the lips again before standing. "Now, get dressed! The equine beasts await!" You jumped up and ran with a slow, jumping gait to the small wardrobe, and grabbed a pair of jeans, a uniform shirt, and a flannel. 

You put your legs through and pulled the jeans up to your waist, the motion causing the fabric to hug your butt quite well. David noticed it quite well and continued to stare at you. You pulled your shirt over your head and tugged it down to cover the top of your jeans, then slipped on your flannel, which covered your bottom, breaking David's gaze. 

You buttoned the flannel halfway, leaving the tree emblem visible across your chest, turning around as you did so. David quickly jumped up, and grabbed the pile of clothes he was supposed to change into after the showers, but never did. He rummaged through them, looking for underwear. 

It was your turn to admire him now. Though he seemed rather frail when he was clothed, what build he did have contained a considerable about of muscle. He didn't have abs or anything, but he did have a rather tight stomach and butt, which you wouldn't admit you were particularly staring at. Not that any of this mattered to you, anyway. His personality alone made your chest bubble with happiness-- his adorable face and physical attributes were just extra things that made him... him. And he made you happy, which was all you were happy to have.

He turned to you as he tied the yellow t-shirt around his neck. He placed his fists on his hips. "Alrightie! All ready." "Great," you smiled, slipping your feet into your boots. You picked up the pair of your dad's boots he'd worn the day before, and tossed them to him. 

David giggled as he walked across the wooden floor, the heels thunking and the sound resonating within the cabin. He walked in a few circles and figure-eights, making as much noise as possible. "I see why you wear these all the time!" He grinned, his eyes smiling. You laughed so hard you snorted. "Oh my god, you're so cute." He stuck his tongue out, the smile not leaving his face. 

You exited the cabin with him following behind. The boots nearly reached the top of his long socks, and almost looked silly. If you didn't love him, and you didn't think he'd look good in anything he wore, you'd probably say it looked ridiculous. 

You entered the Mess Hall, a few kids halfway through eating pancakes. Gwen was sitting at a table, drinking from a mug and looking exhausted. "Good morning, Gwen!" David said happily, jogging over to her. He arrived with a quick hop, the boots clicking on the floor one last time. "Notice anything?" He asked, striking a pose. Gwen looked straight at you, with little to no energy. "Why would you give him something that makes noise?" You snickered from the window in the kitchen. "He needs them to ride," you giggled. "Aren't they great?" David grinned. Gwen looked down at them, looking at the decades worth of caked-on dried mud and dirt. "They're dirty." She said simply, sipping from her mug. "I think it adds character!" David smiled. You walked over with a tray and sat down across from Gwen. David disappeared to get his own breakfast.

"So, horseback riding camp is today?" She asked unenthusiastically. You nodded. "Yup." "Will I have to be teaching this, too?" You shook your head. "Not if you don't want to. You can still participate, if you'd like." She looked down into her mug. "Well... I'll think about it."

More kids came into the Mess Hall for their breakfast, some of them looking quite alive, while others looked like they just woke up. 

You waited until it looked like everyone was about finished, then stood and walked to the front and center of the room. "Good morning, campers!" You greeted. "Good morning!" Space Kid and Nerris shouted, joined by a few much quieter voices. "Today, horseback riding camp is officially beginning! Thanks to all your help, the fence, arena, and stalls are all finished, and it's now safe enough for us to begin lessons. We only have three horses, so I need you guys' help making a decision on something. Would you rather everyone ride for a short time, or only a few kids ride today, but for longer? We'll do it again tomorrow." 

Nurf raised his hand, but spoke without you calling on him. "Why can't we all just ride today for as long as we want?" "Good question," you said, pointing to him. "As I'm sure you all know, horses are big animals. Most of them weigh at least 1,300 pounds. They're also very, very strong. So, carrying some kids all day should be no problem, right?" You looked around the room, seeing a few kids nod, while a few were surprised at the number you gave, whispering to each other in disbelief. Nurf gave a solid nod. 

"Well, it's not their strength I'm worried about. These horses could pull a wagon with all of you in it all day. But we're not going on a simple wagon ride. I'm giving you guys lessons-- I'm teaching you how to ride them, how to use different techniques, and I'm going to ask you to complete some complex tasks. For example, let's say I tell you to walk in a figure eight, then do a circle to the left, and then a circle to the right. Sounds super easy, right? That's because I'm telling it to you through language, and you can picture it all in your head before you even do it." You gestured back and forth and to your head as your spoke. 

"Meanwhile, the horse learns what to do in the exact moment you tell them to do something. They don't know what's going on, they're just listening to you." You continued gesturing. "All of that takes a toll on their brains. They can get a bit cranky toward the end of the day sometimes. Not always, but it's a possibility. It's naughty behavior for a horse, which can be easily corrected by an experienced rider like me, who don't take no crap from no one, even thirteen-hundred-plus-pound animal." The kids giggled.

"But since most of you will be riding for the first time today, I'm not gonna risk it. It takes years of experience to have the confidence and skill to make major corrections on a naughty horse. I'm not saying that these horses are bad or cranky-- because really, they're the sweetest and gentlest horses I've met-- but it's always, always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to horses. Again, they're big animals. You guys can get seriously hurt, and yes-- killed-- if something goes wrong. So before we even go outside, I need you guys to make a promise to me, okay?"

A couple kids recoiled upon you mentioning a mortal injury, but nodded along with the rest of the kids. "Cross your heart swear," you said, resting your hand on your chest. Every kid copied your gesture. "I need you guys to promise that you will be kind and patient with my horses, because I guarantee you that they will be kind and caring right back. Absolutely no yelling, hitting, kicking, and especially no yanking on the reins." The kids all nodded, each saying some version of "I promise," and crossing their hearts. 

"Great! Let's go out there, then!" You grinned.


	16. First Lessons (Part 2)

You led the kids out to the barn, taking the horses out of their stalls one by one and tying their lead ropes to the fence in the arena. Then, you went inside the tack room and came out with a grooming kit. 

"Alright, first thing's first: Grooming! Grooming not only keeps your horse looking good, but it's also a good time for a rider to notice if a horse is injured somewhere you wouldn't notice from far away."

You set the kit down on the fence and grabbed a plastic brush with thick rubber teeth. "Okay, first is the curry comb." You walked over to Lucy and pressed the brushed to her fur and rubbed. "You wanna use it in circular, scrubbing motions. This loosens dirt and other debris from their fur." You turned around and grabbed a bucket filled with a bunch of combined grooming kits, and found three other curry combs, all a different style. You handed them to a few kids you knew as responsible.

"Before you start, I want you to know one thing. Even though horses are big and strong, they're still animals of prey. They don't have claws or sharp teeth, so their main mode of defense is kicking or running. They also have their eyes on the sides of their face, not the front, like us. So, they have big blind spots. One of those blind spots is right behind them, so before you walk behind a horse, give 'em a little tap or pet on the hip, so they know you're there. Practice with me," You said, giving Lucy a pat on the butt before you walked around to the other side. One by one, the kids walked up to Lucy, pet her bottom, and walked around. Some kids were more hesitant than others, but eventually all of you were on the other side of Lucy, including David and Gwen.

"Now, I don't think these guys are gonna kick you. They've been lesson horses for a long time and they've never kicked anyone. I don't know about Edna, but she seems like a good girl. Just be safe, okay?" The kids nodded. "Alright, time to curry comb! Let me know when you guys are all done. And share the brushes!" 

The kids all gathered around once they were done. The horses' fur was all ruffled and looked rather dirty. You reached into your kit. "Alright, here we have a hard-bristle brush. This sweeps off all that big dirt. Use this brush along the grain of their fur, and pay attention to where it changes, like next to their back legs on their barrels." You pointed to the Y-shaped flow of fur. "..Barrels?" A kid asked. You withdrew your hand. "A barrel is basically like a horse's belly. I'll give you guys a crash course later. We'll play a game. Now get brushing!" 

They all ran off and thoroughly brushed the horses after you gave out a few hard bristled brushes from the bucket. Soon, they were all back and returned them to you. David, who had been helping the kids groom Lucy, stood at the back of the group.

"Next up is the soft bristle brush. This one gets rid of whatever's left, and makes 'em nice and soft. Same directions for the last brush." The kids did as they were told, a few of them petting the horses and ogling at how soft they were. Finally, all the brushes came back to you.

"Okay, I need some big kids to do this one. How about Nurf and Ered?" The kids you called on stepped forward, and you put what looked like a hook in each of their hands. "And David, will you come here, too?" He quickly obeyed, his face gently tinting pink like it always did when you interacted. He gave you a sweet smile. 

"What I just gave you guys is called a hoofpick. As the name might suggest, you're supposed to use it to pick dirt from their hooves. This is pretty important as well, because you can make sure your horse's feet are healthy." 

You bent your knees slightly and picked up Lucy's back right hoof, and rested it on your right thigh, holding it snug in place with the side of your arm. "Before you even touch your horse's hoof, there's something you need to look out for, because you can really hurt them. They have a sort of Y-shaped bit right here on the bottom of their hoof called the frog. Yes, the frog. It's sensitive, so always find where exactly it is before you go stabbing your pick in there. You need to scrape out the grooves along it, and then the outer part of the hoof. A couple of these picks have brushes on the other side of the pick, but it's not really necessary." 

You demonstrated, have Lucy's hoof cleaned in a matter of seconds. "There. Clean as a whistle! Take your time. I'm gonna help with Edna, because she may not be used to this." You handed your pick to David and patted Lucy before helping Ered to clean Edna's hooves.

"Alright, we all done?" You called out after about five minutes. You collected the picks. "Okay, we're almost done! Last is the tail brush, which should speak for itself. You can brush their mane and their tails with this. But remember that I told you never to stand directly behind the horse, because they can kick, right? So what do you think you should do instead?" 

The kids stared back silently. Neil was the one to speak up, which surprised you. "Do we... stand by their legs and reach out behind them and brush?" He offered. "Close. You can stand a bit off to the side and hold their tail out to the side." 

After the horses were all brushed and properly groomed, you put the grooming kit and bucket away and appeared in the doorway of the tack room with two saddles, one in each arm, pressed against you to balance them. "David, will you please take this one so I can grab the other one?" You called out. He quickly ran over to you, holding his arms out. You dropped the saddle into his arms and his arms buckled, barely holding onto it. "--Gosh!" He cringed, straightening and bending backward to keep the saddle up. He carried it over to Lucy, making it there just as you did. Between Edna and Desi you set the saddles down, tilting them forward so that they stood on their horns. You then set the saddle David had put down the same way. 

"Alright, time for saddles!" You said, clapping your hands together. You leaned over, hooking the right stirrup on the saddle horn, and flipped the girth strap over the seat and picked it up, holding the saddle pad beneath it.

"These horses are accustomed to having the saddles put on them from the left side. Most horses are." You looked over her back at the kids, and shifted the saddle's weight to hold it in one arm. "Do you guys see this little hump here, where her neck ends and her back begins?" You ran your fingers along her spine. The kids nodded. "This is called the withers." You hoisted the saddle up onto her back, and pulled it forward so that the saddle pad was well over it. "You wanna cover it up well with the saddle pad. The withers are rather sensitive, and it kinda feels like having a wooden block rubbed into your shoulder blade for these guys if you put your saddle up too high." A couple kids cringed, raising their shoulders, including David. 

"Alright, come on over to this side! Remember to pat her butt to let her know you're comin'." The kids came in a single-file line, each of them petting or patting Lucy. Gwen was the last to come over, following David. 

You pushed the girth strap over the saddle and it fell to the other side. You unhooked the right stirrup and let it fall, then hooked the left stirrup to the horn. You crouched and grabbed the strap, then stood up. You gave the kids a detailed walkthrough of how to tie the saddle on, mentioning different styles of saddles and ways to secure them. 

"I'm not gonna have you guys do this today, because you're beginners... but these guys like to puff their bellies full of air and hold their breath so they don't have to get their saddles tightened. Innocent enough, but if your saddle is too loose, you'll flip over and be riding the underbelly of the horse." 

The kids giggled, you joining in. Your face suddenly dropped. "But no, seriously. If your horse treads on you, you could fall right off. It's traumatic enough to fall, but you could get stepped on, and we want to avoid that at all costs." You lowered your voice. "Unless you guys want to see what the inside of a skull looks like." Most of the kids gasped in horror, but Max snorted and cackled.

You turned back to Lucy. "Anyway, they do that to avoid having to get their saddles tightened. So you just give 'em a little--" You sharply brought your knee up, clobbering Lucy in the side. Her head shot upward as you gave the strap a strong pull, tightening it by several notches. You then buckled it in place and put the stirrup down with a satisfied smile.

"Okay! Once we get the saddles on, we'll put the bridles on, and it'll be time to ride!"

You lifted Desi's saddle onto her back and left Ered in charge of a few other kids as they began tightening the saddle. David stood nearby just in case. You wanted to supervise Edna's saddling, because you weren't sure how she would react to different people putting a saddle on. Nurf, as the oldest, was leading the group of other kids. Nerris reached beneath the horse and grabbed the strap. Space Kid threaded it through the buckle on the other side, Neil looped it around a few times, and Nurf began to tighten it. He was quite strong, and was tightening it quite well. 

You watched Edna carefully. Her ears pointed in several different directions, pinning backward as she slowly turned her head to look at Nurf. Nurf's eyes sparkled at her, though her didn't let go of the strap. You stepped forward. 

"Why, hello, Ed-" Edna's nose shot forward, her lips peeling back as her flat teeth aimed to close anywhere on Nurf. Before she could reach him, you stuck out her arm, giving her a fast slap on the side of her mouth closest to her shoulder, making her recoil away from Nurf. Her ears flattened backward as she turned her neck back around. "Bad girl," you grumbled. 

You looked to Nurf, who looked like his heart shattered. "Why did she do that?" he wheezed, his lip trembled. "It's just because you were tightening her saddle and she's not happy about it. Don't take it personally, kiddo." You ruffled his red hair, and checked the strap. 

"Hey, you've got this pretty tight! Great job!" You grinned, getting a smile from him. You tightened it just a couple more notches, before walking around Edna to Desi.

Ered's group had the saddle on, but it was way too loose. It seemed like none of them had the heart to knee her the way you had, except for Max, who was simply too short to do it anyway. You tightened it up, told them job well done, and went to the tack room for the last things you needed. 

All of the bridles were the same dark brown leather, all faded, but with slightly varying styles of leather patterns. What set them apart was the reins: Lucy'sreins were thick white rope, Desi's were a white and purple braid, and Edna's was a black strip of smooth leather. 

"In the future, when I ask you guys to grab bridles, remember what the reins look like. It's the easiest thing to identify them with." You held Lucy's in your left hand, and hung Edna's and Desi's bridles on your right shoulder. You then transitioned Lucy's bridle to your right hand, put the reins on your shoulder, and walked to Lucy's left side.

"Keep your reins the hell off the ground, okay? You or the horse could step on it, and it could be catastrophic for one or, most likely, both of you. Alright now, come around here and watch."

The campers gathered around, watching closely. You unbuckled the halter, but kept the strap behind her ears. You slid the front of the halter off her face, then reattached it to her neck. It hung loosely, keeping her hooked to the fence.

You held the top strap in your right hand, and the bit in your left hand. "Okay, so cradle the bit like this. Put your thumb and middle finger on either side of her mouth, and stick 'em in there." A couple "Ewwwww!"s sounded from the group. "That's how she knows to open her mouth. Then, stick the bit in, and put the strap over her ears. Pull her hears through, fix the forehead strap a bit, put on the throat strap, pull her mane and forelock out so they're not getting tugged on-- and we're all done!" You unbuckled the halter, and it swung down on the lead rope and hit the fence. "David, will you please hold Lucy while we get the other two bridled?" You asked sweetly, turning to him.

David perked up. "Oh! Of course!" He smiled, happily walking up to you and taking the reins. You walked the kids over to Desi as David led Lucy further into the arena. 

"I've gonna bridle everybody today, because Edna's not super used to this, and Desi can be a pain in the ass." True to what you said, just as you stuck your thumb in Desi's mouth, she flicked her chin up. She did it a few times before you caught her, shoved the bit in her mouth, and pulled it over her head. As you buckled the throat strap, you perked up. "Oh! Quick word of advice. These bridles are already fitted to these guys, but rule of thumb when you're putting the throat strap on." You extended your index and middle finger, but closed the rest. You easily stuck your fingers between the strap and Desi's chin. "You should be able to stick two fingers through here, no problem. Otherwise, it's too tight."

Neil raised his hand. You pointed to him. "Yeah?" "I have a question, regarding the... bit. If I stick my fingers in her mouth, what if she accidentally bites me? Or what if she accidentally bites the bit or hurts herself? Don't horses have like... A lot of teeth?" You put a hand on your hip and pointed to him with the other. "Excellent question! So actually, horses have teeth in the front of their mouth, then nothing, and then molars in the way back. There's a bare spot, and we put the bit behind their front teeth. It's impossible for them to bite you where you stick your fingers in. I'll draw it for you on the chalkboard or something. It's actually quite spooking looking, compared to human jaws." 

The kids raised their brows, especially Neil. "Well, enough about that." Ered, why don't you take Desi over to where Lucy is. Take your group, and nobody stand behind any horses." You unhooked the halter from Desi's neck and gave the reins to Ered, who did as you asked. Finally, you walked over to Edna.

Edna's ears were back up, and they pointed forward as you approached her, her big head turning to face you. You chuckled. "Hi, sweetie." She was actually very easy to bridle. "What a good girl! You'll get extra treats afterward." You then unhooked her from the fence and gave Nurf the reins, telling him to do the same thing as Ered. You stood out in the front of the group, which now included the horses. 

 

"Alright, time to ride!"


	17. First Lesson (Part 3)

As you scanned through the group, you frowned. "Ah, shit." You grumbled. "I forgot to give you guys boots. Well, it looks like only a few of you are riding today. Who all has heels on their shoes?" You asked. 

As you looked about, you noticed Dolph's boots, which almost looked like English riding boots. "Dolph, you wanna ride today?" You asked. Dolph bounced in the air happily. "Oooh, yas! I vould love to!" " Alright, perfect! You can ride Desi." Ered handed the reins over to Dolph. 

"Harrison, come here." You said softly. Harrison approached you slowly. "Let me see the bottom of your shoes. I can't see them in the dirt." He lifted his knee, wobbling a bit. "That'll do! You go ahead and ride Lucy." Harrison smiled. "Cool!" He turned around, receiving the reins from David who smiled down at him and stepped aside. "And now we need someone to ride Edna." 

"Ooh, pick me!" You looked to Nurf, who wildly waved his hand in the air. He had one foot sticking in the air for you to observe the bottom of. It was a sneaker, but it did have the smallest ridge. "Alright, but I'm gonna get your shoe size when we're done and get you proper shoes. Okay, let's mount!" You clapped your hands together. A few snickers bubbled from the group. "Teehee. Mount." "If you don't have a horse's reins, get out! Stand just outside of the fence, please." David led the kids over to the fence, which everyone ducked beneath and turned around to watch. 

You lead Harrison with Lucy to the boarding block first, giving him the same speech you gave David. Soon, he was up. You adjusted the stirrups, grabbing his heels and positioning them before asking him if was comfortable. He nodded. "Alright, give her a little squeeze, and walk around a bit." 

Nurf was next. He mounted rather roughly, but Edna seemed to handle it well. You did the same thing for him that you did for Harrison and sent him off. Edna walked forward, and Dolph stood beside Desi, smiling brightly. You looked at him, to the boarding block, and back at him, and walked forward, realizing he would still be way too short, even with the block. "Let me see those, kiddo." He handed you the reins, and you flipped them over Desi's head. You grabbed him underneath each arm and lifted him up, plopping him into the saddle. Then, you handed him the reins and smiled. He smiled back.

You shortened the stirrups as much as they would go, positioning his heels. "Is this alright?" "Ja! Mein seat ist comfortable!" You chuckled.

"Okay! Let's get this going!" You patted Desi's backside and made a kissing sound twice, and she walked forward. You jogged to the middle of the ring, in the center of a circling trio of horses. 

"Alright, first's things first. Hands in front of the saddle. If your hands go behind it, you're pulling too hard." You saw Harrison and Nurf correct themselves. Dolph was currently behind you, but you trusted him to listen to you. 

"Position your hands like you're holding an ice cream cone." Nurf, who had been holding the reins with his fists sideways, turned then ninety degrees. "Uhm... like this?" Harrison asked. You turned to him. "Loosen your fingers just a little. You're putting tension on her mouth." Harrison's eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry!" You watched as he manipulated his hands. "Great! I think those gloves will help your grip, so don't worry too much about holding onto them. Just keep your hands quiet." You turned to Nurf, seeing his hands positioned correctly. "Good job, Nurf."

"Alright, and keep your heels down. I want you reaching down like you're gonna touch the ground. Imagine that at any moment, the horse is gonna vanish-- you should land flat-footed." Harrison looked over the edge of Lucy at his feet, wiggling his heel and eventually getting them to where they need to be. "Don't twist your heels, Nurf. That'll hurt after awhile. Good job, Harrison. Good job, Dolph." You looked back at Nurf. "Good job." 

"Okay, we got the basics down! Now, instead of letting the horses take you all the way around the arena, I want you to make a rectangle. To turn them, push on their barrel with your left heel, and pull your right rein." 

As each camper's horse came to a corner, they did just as you asked, one by one, until Nurf, who did it incredibly rough. "Nurf! I said pull, not yank! Make a small circle, right where you are." Nurf did as you told him, watching his own hands. 

You had them make the area increasingly smaller, before telling them to turn around and do it the other way. They were getting the hang of it quite quickly. "Alright, let's trot!" You turned around to face David. "David, will you go in the tack room and get me the lunge and stick, please?" "Of course!" He quickly ran to the tack room, doing as you asked. 

"Is this what you need?" He asked from the doorway. You looked over your shoulder, seeing him holding up the two items you asked for. You smiled. "Yup!" He smiled back, and jogged over to you, ducking beneath the fence. He handed them to you with a smile. "Thank you," you sung, leaning forward to kiss his cheek, but stopped, remembering you were in front of everyone. "Thank you," you repeated quietly, leaning back and smiling. His cheeks dusted pink. "You're welcome," he smiled, before happily returning to his place. 

"Alright, who wants to go first?" 

"Oooh! I vill go first!" Dolph called. "Alright, bring Desi over!" You replied. 

You took the reins and turned them over so that they formed a tiny loop which you hooked on the saddle horn. Then, you attached the lunge to the bridle and took a few steps back. You twirled the thin rope on the end of your stick and pointed with your left hand, sending Desi forward in a circle. 

"Alright, Dolph. Hold your arms out like an airplane." You said as Desi walked a steady pace. He complied. "Alright, now hold 'em straight up in the air." Dolph did as you told him. "And now hold onto the saddle horn." As he wrapped his small hands around the horn, you looked up to him. 

"Okay Dolph, ready to trot?" He nodded and you lifted the rope in your hand. The movement alone caused Desi to pick her head up and begin a trot. Dolph held onto the saddle horn as her stride became bouncier. You constantly stepped over your left foot as you turned to keep the front of your body facing Desi. 

When Dolph looked comfortable, you spoke up. "Okay, arms out like an airplane!" Dolph slowly did as you asked, balancing himself out. "Good job," you rewarded. He adjusted in no time. "Hands up all the way." Dolph gracefully lifted his arms. "Great job!" You said. "Let's go the other way. Hands on the saddle." 

You bowed, sliding your hand down the rope. Desi slowed to a walk and immediately turned to face you. Before she could stop, your straightened yourself, switching hands so the stick was in your left hand and the rope was in your right. You extended your right arm and pointed, and Desi began trotting to the right as you clicked your tongue. You stepped over your right foot now as you turned.

"Okay, arms out," you said. Dolph stuck his arms out. You didn't even have to ask him to put his arms up afterward. "Great job!" You smiled. You bowed again and slid your hand down the rope, and Desi turned to you and stopped. You walked up to her and pet her, taking the lunge off and giving Dolph back his reins. "Excellent! Think you can do it on your own?"

Dolph's small hands grabbed the reins as she smiled and nodded. "Ja! Zis vill be no problem!" "Alright. Give her a squeeze and trot around while I lunge Harrison." Dolph gave Desi a squeeze as he was off, leaving you alone in the center of the area. "Oh boy, am I next?" The boy asked. "You sure are. Bring Lucy over." 

Harrison bit his lip, and you could tell his stomach was turning as he stopped Lucy before you. You took his reins, crossed them into a loop and hooked it on the saddle horn, then attached your lunge and stood back. You held out your left arm and pointed, and Lucy began a circle. 

"When she trots, don't squeeze her with your legs to keep yourself on, okay? If you do that, she's gonna think you want to go faster." Harrison was looking intensely at Lucy between her ears, but veered his gaze to you. "...Okay," he said after a moment, turning his eyes back to Lucy.

"Put your arms out like an airplane," you said. Harrison hesitated, but did as you asked. His body swayed in tune with Lucy's as she walked. "And up above your head," you added. He let out a rough, trembly breath before he stuck his arms up. "Good, don't squeeze.... And hands on the saddle." 

"Alright, ready?" You stated more then asked, and lifted your left hand. Lucy picked up her head and began a dainty trot. 

"Good, don't squeeze," you said to Harrison as you observed his reaction to the change in pace. You let Lucy make two full circles. "Arms out like an airplane." You said, watching him carefully. His legs tensed up as he ever so slowly stuck his arms out. "Don't squeeze," you said. His legs loosened a bit. "And arms up. Breathe, Harrison. Don't hold your breath. Relax your legs." Harrison gasped for air when you reminded him to breathe, inhaling and then exhaling deeply as he stuck his arms up. "Great job! Don't squeeze," you reminded. Because he was nervous, you made Lucy make extra circles, having to remind him to breathe. "Alright, hands on the saddle." He let out a breath, clutching the saddle.

You reversed Lucy and repeated the same process, peppering in rewards, reminders to breathe and not to squeeze. Eventually, he looked comfortable enough that you decided he was ready to trot alone. You stopped Lucy, pet her, and unattached the lunge and gave the reins to Harrison. "Alrightie, go ahead and trot around the border with Dolph." He took the reins in his gloved hands and nodded at you. He used his heels to squeeze Lucy, and she went forward. When he was off at a trot, you beckoned Nurf.

"Okay, Nurf. Gimme your reins." You said, despite grabbing the reins yourself and prompting him to let go. You looped the reins onto the saddle horn like usual, and attached the lunge. You began the arms process, and Nurf looked slightly confused, but he did just as you asked without incident. "Hey David, come over here, will you?" You called over your shoulder. 

David's eyes lit up and he quickly trotted over to you, joining you in the circle Edna was making around you. "I'd like you to lead her. You have to learn this stuff anyway." You bowed and slid your hand down the rope. Edna slowed, turning to you and stopping. 

You turned to David, handing him the rope and stick. You then stepped behind him. "Rope in your left hand, stick in your right. Don't trip on either of 'em." You emerged in front of him on the other side, standing slightly to the side. We want her to circle to the left, so hold out your left arm and point. And you actually have to point, she'll notice if you don't." David did as you asked, and Edna began her circle. You walked around to David's right side. "Keep turning to follow her," you said, walking around to stay on his right side. You looked at his feet, noticing that he was stepping back to turn. "Step over, David." You said. "..What?" He asked, raising a brow. "Step over." You repeated, tapping the side of his foot with yours. "Don't step behind your foot to turn. She pays attention to that. She's making her circle smaller and coming in closer because you're doing that." 

David straightened slightly. "Oh-- Really?" He quickly corrected his footing. "Yup. Can you see what she's doing with her mouth?" You asked as you followed David around, who was turning in sync with Edna. "Her mouth... She's... sticking her tongue out and... chewing on the bridle?" "Licking and chewing." You said simply. "When you see her doing that, it means the gears are turning in her head. She's thinking, and learning." David smiled as you explained it to him. 

You watched Edna, then looked to Nurf. "Alright, Nurf. Put your hands on the saddle." You looked at Edna again. "Okay, David. Lift your left arm and tell her to trot." David did just as you told him, but nothing happened. "Oh, did I not do it right..?" David asked with a small voice. 

"No, you did it just perfect. She's just not listening. So now twirl your stick." David did as you said, and she picked up her head, but didn't go any faster. "Okay, so as you're following her around, face her butt instead of her barrel, and do it again." David awkwardly tried to figure it out, and eventually got it, but she still remained walking. "Alright, now she's just being naughty. Step forward toward her butt and if she still doesn't move, smack her butt with your stick." David stepped forward and ever so gently swung the stick. The rope on the end  of it daintily swung forward and tapped her butt. She stepped outward and started hustling a little, but stayed walking. 

"Oh, naughty," you began grumbling under your breath. "David, let me have that," you said as you took the rope and stick. "Hands on the saddle Nurf. Stay relaxed." With a burst of energy, you stomped forward, flinging your right arm forward and cracking her across the bottom. She immediately sprung forward, crow hopping a few times before straightening out into a smooth trot. "Good girl!" you rewarded. "Great job, Nurf," you added, looking up to him. You had Nurf cycle through the arm positions before you bowed, swiftly swung the stick below the rope to switch hands, and stood and pointed her in the other direction. In the two seconds at most it took you to do that, Edna turned to you, and gently hopped with her front legs to turn the other direction. When you were satisfied with her gait, you gave the rope and stick to David.

"When she refuses to trot for you, do that." You said as he took them from you. "I-I could never do that!" He squeaked. "You're too nice David. Keep in mind that these are big animals. You don't have to be mean, you just have to be big too. They can seriously hurt you or a kid if you allow them to be naughty." You pointed out. David gulped. "O-okay, I'll try." 

You looked up to Nurf. "Good job, Nurf. Hold your arms out like an airplane. And don't squeeze her, I saw you tense a bit in your legs." Nurf obeyed you, especially after you whipped Edna into shape. Eventually, you figured he was ready to trot on his own. 

"Okay, David. To make her stop, you need to bow down, and slide one hand down the rope." You mimed the action, and Edna took notice. David mimicked what you did, and she slowed, walking up to David and stopping. He smiled. "Pet her," you smiled, and he was happy to reach up and stroke her nose as you unhooked the lunge and gave Nurf back his reins. You gathered the lunge rope in a loop and hung it on your shoulder and you sent David back to the fence.

"Alright, guys!" You called out to all three riders. "Let's have Nurf trot around a couple times and we'll all reverse." 

As Nurf made his third lap around the arena, you instructed them to reverse. Since they were going clockwise, you had them turn to their right. "Pull your right rein and apply pressure with your left foot," You instructed. Dolph performed it quite well, Harrison made a rather wide and rusty turn, but you noticed Nurf pulling way too hard on the rein. 

"Nurf, too much pressure on her mouth. You should stop tugging when you can see the corner of her eye," you called out. 

Nurf didn't respond to you, but you kept a particularly watchful eye on him. 

Dolph rode with a graceful confidence, and you took a moment to focus on Harrison, who seemed rather nervous, but was otherwise beginning to learn. 

The next time you looked to Nurf, he was pulling on the reins too hard again. Edna would slow down in response, and he would squeeze her. She would speed up, and her sudden change in gait would cause him to tense up and pull on the reins, and the cycle would start over again. Edna began to push her face forward, and they were stuck in a combat of pulling. 

"Nurf!" You shouted, your eyebrows knitting. "I'm not!" He shouted defensively. "Stop pulling on her face. Now. She's trying so hard to give to you. She's being submissive. When she gives and you continue to pull on her, you're giving her no choice but to fight." Nurf's eyes shifted as you spoke. "Hands in front of the saddle," you repeated. Nurf pushed his hands forward reluctantly. When you were about to reward him, Edna began to relax and quicken her stride, which caused Nurf to tense up and yank again. 

"Nurf, stop! Whoa! Whoa her! Dolph and Harrison, keep doing what you're doing." You turned around and stomped to the tack room. David watched with pure fear in his eyes, as well as the other campers besides Max, who looked quite interested. 

You emerged with a bridle in your hands, and walked straight up to Edna's side, and handed him the metal bit while you held onto the headpiece and reins. "Hold this with both hands." Nurf's hands just barely fit between the two metal loops that held the reins. "Got it?" You asked. Nurf nodded. You started tugging the reins one by one. Nurf watched his fingers, wincing a little. "You feel that?" Nurf nodded. Before he could finish nodding, you began brutally yanking the reins, and Nurf jumped and grunted in pain. "Did that hurt?" You asked, taking the bit from him. He nodded, rubbing his fingers. Your brows knitted again. "Well, imagine how it feels when it's in your mouth. That's what you're doing to her." Nurf's eyes shifted downward. "And to add to it, you're also squeezing her, which is making her think you want her to speed up. So she speeds up, and you yank on her and squeeze her. You're really, really lucky she's so forgiving. She really doesn't have to be. It may not feel like it to you, but to her that's an argument. And one day she may decide she wants to win, and I'm gonna have to scoop the inside of your head out of the dirt." 

Nurf shrunk in on himself as you tore into him. "You think that I can't see it when you're pulling and hurting her. But I see it. I see every tiny movement. I see it everywhere. I can see it even in professional riders. It's a curse that I can see it," you shouted, and your eyes began to well up. Your hands gripped the bridle tightly as Nurf's brows rose in shock. You blinked hard and curled your lip. "Stop arguing with her. Stop fighting with her. She's being so submissive and you're not appreciating it. Not a lot of horses will give to you like that. Stop it. It's abuse."

Nurf pressed his lips together tightly as he looked down at Edna, who was stretching her neck downward now that the reins were being held loosely. You took a breath to speak again and Nurf looked at you. "And if I see you do it again, Nurf," you pointed with your free hand. "I'm going to pull you right off her back, and you'll never ride again. Don't doubt for a second that I will. Do you understand?" Nurf nodded quickly. You wiped your eyes roughly with your arm in a sweeping motion and swallowed the lump in your throat. 

"Now pick up your reins, squeeze her forward, and go. Ride her nicely." Nurf cautiously gathered his reins and gently squeezed Edna's sides. She picked up her head and walked forward. The displacement of dirt beneath her hooves and the soft squeak of the saddle was the only sound audible in the arena, including everyone standing just outside, watching.


	18. First Lesson (Part 4)

"Don't get me wrong. If I need to get big with a horse, I'll do it. I'm no prissy, pussy woman." You said, much louder now. "But I'm not mean, by any sense of the word." You spoke, breaking the silence. A few giggles emerged from the small crowd outside the ring. "You saw me do it to Edna. But there's a difference between being assertive to a horse that's not listening, and being mean to a horse that's trying to hard to be the best she can for you."

You turned around. "Harrison, go ahead and squeeze her a little. She's trotting, but she's got no energy. She's almost going backwards." Harrison cautiously squeezed, his ankles rotating downward. "Heels down, Harrison!" You reminded. Harrison quickly snapped his heels down and tried again, and Lucy quickened her pace, loosening her gait. She daintily dipped down her head. "Doesn't that feel better to ride?" You smiled. "Can you feel the difference?" You genuinely asked. Harrison couldn't help smiling. "I can!" he grinned. "Perfect, that's what you're looking for. That feeling. I hope you notice that she's giving to you a lot right now. Give her a little more rein. She's super loose right now." Though Harrison had no clue what you meant by 'loose,' he let a few inches of rein slip through his gloves. "That's a nice trot. It really looks so beautiful," you said as Harrison passed you. Harrison smiled down at the back of Lucy's head. "When she gives, give back. It's all give and take, give and take."

You looked up as Dolph prepared to ride passed you. "Great job, Dolph!" You grinned. "Have you ridden before?" You raised a brow in amusement. "Ve rode horses at mein military camp I vas raised at!" He called back as he passed you. "Did you ride English?" You asked, raising your voice so he could hear you. "Ja! But zis is just fine!" He called back, raising his voice accordingly. You smiled and turned to Nurf. "Really good job, Nurf. Go ahead and squeeze her forward, she needs to trot up a little." You said gently.

Nurf nervously squeezed her, his ankles tilting downward. In an effort to keep his hands in place as she sped up and he felt uneasy, he leaned forward. "Heels down, Nurf, and lean back. Lean way back." Nurf quickly fixed his heels and slowly began to lean backward. "There you go, just like that. Sit deep and relax your butt so you don't bounce so much." Slowly, Nurf adjusted the way he was sitting, and instead of bouncing on top of the saddle, he stayed put. "Great! Just like that!" You smiled. "Ice cream cone hands." 

After a few minutes, you went into the tack room and put the bridle back on the hook, and came back with a few small traffic cones. You set them up and had the three kids weave the cones, make figure eights, and varying circle sizes, having to correct them a few times, but always rewarding them for fixing their mistakes. After an hour, you congratulated Nurf and Harrison as they completed a small routine you'd set up for them. Dolph was still going through it.

"Great job, you guys! Walk them out." "What does that mean?" Harrison asked, looking at the path of cones you'd laid out. "It means slow them to a walk, we're done. They need a bit of a cooldown, just like humans do after a workout." "Oh!" Harrison chirped. "And make sure you pet on 'em! Tell them 'good girl,' they did great for you guys today." You walked about the arena, picking up and stacking the cones in your arms. Each kid was leaning forward, petting their horse's shoulder as she hung her head down, stretching her neck. After you put the cones away, you came back out to the arena.

 "Alright guys, you can dismount whenever. Do you guys know how?" Harrison looked over at you, and then down at Lucy. "Uhh... no." "Alright, then. Whoa them," you began, walking over to Dolph, who you knew already knew this, but you didn't want him dropping all the way to the ground due to his short stature. 

"Stand in your left stirrup and swing your right leg over so you can lay on your belly on the saddle, take your foot out the stirrup, and slide down." Dolph already knew why you were coming and lifted his arms a bit for you to pick him up and set him gently on the ground. You lifted Desi's reins over her head because you knew he could never reach them himself, and gave them to him. "Go ahead and tie her up." You smiled. He smiled at you brightly woth sparkling. Blue eyes as he turned around, creating a quite comical sight with a big animal being lead by such a small kid.

You turned your head to see Harrison stuck slung over the saddle, just like David. Nurf roughly landed on his feet, but made it nevertheless, and followed Dolph's lead. You chuckled to yourself and went over to Harrison. "Go on, Harrison. Slide down. It's not as far as you think." "It's really not!" David called from the sidelines, making you giggle. Harrison gulped and slid down, panicking when he began to lose grip, but landed a fraction of a second later. "Great! Take her to to the fence and groom her." You smiled, handing him the reins. You patted his shoulder and sent him off. 

David helped you carry the saddles back to the tack room-- two in your arms and one in his-- while all of the kids pitched in grooming the horses. All of the kids besides Max, who stood behind Lucy, looking over her rather critically. "Hey, Max." You said casually when you returned. "Stand a few feet off to the side, alright? You're one spook away from being kicked into a tree." Max shuffled to the side a few steps-- for his own best interest, not because you told him to, of course. You stepped past him and helped brush the top of Lucy's back, with Max beside you, hands in his pockets.

"Kudos for getting Nurf to listen to you. You seem to be the only counselor who can do that." You looked down at Max, who wasn't looking at you, but rather straight ahead into space-- avoiding eye contact. "What do you mean?" You asked, still brushing. "Haven't you seen the scars on David's hands? The ones that make him look like Jesus after being crucified?" You lifted your brows. "I... suppose so. I always thought they were from, like, rock climbing, or something." "They're from Nurf impaling him with knives." "You're fucking with me," you said, shaking your head as you continued to brush. "I'm really not. Ask literally anyone. Especially Gwen. He bled all over her boots." 

You looked down at him, and he was finally looking up at you. You didn't really see what he had to gain from lying, and your brows raised. "Wish I'd known that before I let him on one of my horses... but if he brings anything sharp near them, I'll gut him." Max smirked. "I think the thing you did with the harness thingy was enough. He only really seems to respond to physical pain inflicted on himself. He only left David alone after he slapped him in the face." You exhaled sharply out your nose in amusement. "Okay, now you're really fucking with me. David couldn't slap a fly on the wall." "Well, granted, it was an accident, and he hated himself for it, but he still technically slapped him." "That's what I thought," you laughed, continuing your brushing while Max still looked up at you. 

"Oh, he did uppercut some dude one time." You rotated your head to give Max a doubtful yet entertained side-glance. "He did. Followed by an overhead smash to the head with a chair." You scoffed with a smile and rolled your eyes. "He did! On purpose, this time. Again, ask literally anyone. Every camper saw it." "Max--" "Dolph! Come here," Max called out. Dolph skipped over. "Ja?" "Did David hit that one dude with a chair?" "Oh, ja! Zat vas so unexpected... unt scary!" "I kinda thought it was funny," Max shrugged. "You know, after the initial shock wore off." 

Two horses over, you saw your boyfriend helping to brush Desi, who had her head turned to sniff the back of his head. He turned and jumped when he saw her nose right in his face, letting out a short scream, causing her to pull her head back a bit in surprise and pin her ears down before stretching her neck back toward him, ears positioned forward. He smiled and pet her. That was the guy who punched a dude in the jaw before hitting him over the head with a chair? You almost laughed, but then you remembered Dolph's account of the story, and you weren't sure whether you doubted it or not. 

"Anyway, my point is," Max said, closing his eyes as he turned away. "Good job keeping control of him, I guess. It's nice to see a counselor here who has control over something." You smirked. "Thanks, Max." You brushed off the top of Lucy's hindquarters just above her tail. "You can ride next." Max's eyes shot open. "Wait, what?!" "Yeah, you, Neil and Nikki. You guys get along well, right? I'll put you on Lucy, I think." You switched the hand you held the brush in and patted Lucy's hindquarters. "No, really, I don't think--" "Yeah! Everyone's gonna get a chance. One day I'll have some more horses. Probably bring some geldings." 

Max was drawn out of his state of shock and desperate attempts to change your mind by the mention of more animals. "What the fuck is a gelding? A bird?" You laughed. "It does sound like a bird's name, actually. But no. A gelding is a stallion that lost his jewels." You looked down at Max with a smirk. He blinked before laughing himself. "Oh. You should tell David that. Threaten to turn him into one if he doesn't listen to you or something." You laughed. "What could he do to warrant that? All he ever does is be nice to people." "Yeah, but don't chicks always tell their boyfriends shit like that? I guess its more effective if- actually, nevermind. That's gross." You stopped and looked down at Max with your brows lifted. 

"You... wait, how do you--" You breath caught and you were about to scold him for following you or eavesdropping, when he interrupted, his usual casual look of disinterest on his face. "It's pretty goddamn obvious you guys are dating." You swallowed. "How obvious..?" "Well, he's always stuck to you, for one. Like, seriously. He follows you around like a dog. And he always gives you those dumb puppy eyes. Besides, I saw how he acted around his last girlfriend. It's fucking hilarious." You looked around. "How obvious to other people, though..?" "I don't know. I don't really talk to other people. But they probably know. Kids talk." Max shrugged. You sighed. "Well, I mean... I guess it's not really a secret. Nobody's denying it." "It's gross. Love is gross." You snorted. "You'll understand you're older," you said with a nasally, high-pitched voice as you went back to brushing. Max snickered and rolled his eyes. "That sounds about right."

You walked over to Edna, brush still in hand, to groom her back. You guided Ered as she picked Edna's hooves and caught sight of Max petting Lucy's shoulder. Lucy lowered her head and stuck her nose in his hair before she tucked the bridge of her nose into his shoulder-- a gesture he didn't understand, causing his bright aqua eyes to widen. He stepped back and Lucy gave him a docile look, stretching her neck to reach toward him with her nose, stopped by the halter that was tied to the fence. Max reluctantly stepped forward and stroked her nose, a faint smile creeping onto his face as Lucy peacefully relaxed her neck.

You smiled. "Those two will make a great pair," you thought. "Who will?" Your boyfriend's voice suddenly asked beside you. You jumped, realizing you'd been thinking aloud, but you smiled anyway. "Max and Lucy," you said quietly, pointing with your head. David looked over to them and smiled. "Awww, how nice. I really thought he'd be more compatible with Edna." "What? Why?" You giggled. "Just the strong will they both have." You chuckled. "I see what you mean. I think he's nervous, though. Lucy's really compassionate and sweet. I put her with she skittish kids." "Max? Nervous?" David raised his brow. "Oh yeah," you nodded. "You'd be surprised how many people change around horses." David put his hands on his hips. "Huh. He always showed a blatant disinterest in... everything," David said. You giggled. "Give anyone enough time with a horse, their true self will come out. Lots of animals can do that, but horses are special. They can read people better than most humans can." "I believe it." David smiled. "And it seems like people who spend a lot of time with them are good people."

He looked down at you with a dreamy smile. You turned to look at him and smiled back. You laid your hand on his shoulder and stood on your toes, kissing the corner of his mouth before walking past him to put the brushes away. You were pretty sure no one was looking, but what did you care?

"Grab the bridles and put them away, will you?" You said over your shoulder to your softly-blushing boyfriend. He quickly grabbed them and followed you to the tack room, eager to just be by you. You giggled when he arrived. "Just hang them wherever." You gestured to the hooks on the walls. He arranged them nicely as you organized the grooming kits

When you turned around, he was smiling and waiting patiently for you. "You can go without me," you giggled. "I know. But I don't wanna," he smiled. You smiled, taking his hand with one hand and cupping his cheek with the other. He leaned his head into your touch. You rose onto your toes to peck his lips, not even tilting your head to do so as his already was. He kept his eyes closed, smiling dreamily as he kept his cheek nuzzled into your hand. You giggled and kissed his cheek quickly before turning around to exit, with him following closely, as usual.

You wanted to have tomorrow's riders lead the horses back to the pasture. You gave Edna's lead to Nikki and Desi's lead to Neil, who held it rather nervously, but was calmed a bit when Desi didn't spaz out upon him receiving the rope, like he expected. When you untied Lucy's lead from the fence she was connected to, Max shifted uneasily. "Actually, someone else can do it... It's fine..." "Here you go, Max." You said, as if you didn't hear it, though you and Max both know you heard it loud and clear. You grabbed his small hand and placed the rope in it. Max quickly grabbed it with both hands in a death grip.

"Alright, lead from the left!" You said, with a jumping stride toward the pasture. Nikki skipped confidently with Edna close by her. Neil walked timidly, though Desi calmly walked beside him and gave him enough confidence to walk fast enough to keep up with you and Nikki and the rest of the campers who followed along. Max was frozen in place, gripping the rope. "Max?" A soft voice came from about. Max's eyes shifted upward to see David in his peripherals, though he kept his head in place. 

"What's wrong?" "Nothing," Max said shakily, cursing inwardly as his voice failed him. David crouched down. "Why aren't you following the others?" Max tried to think of something to snap at David, but his mind blanked. "(Y/n) was right. You really are nervous. Scared, even." Max's eyes widened. "She said what?!" "Max, there's nothing to be afraid of. Lucy's really sweet and gentle. All of them are." "I'm not afraid!" Max snapped. "I'm not afraid of a stupid, dumb... giant... horse..." Lucy snorted and lowered her head to Max. Her dark eyes were half-lidded with docile gentleness. She sniffed him curiously, and let out a particularly strong yet gentle breath through her nostrils that ruffled Max's curls. "What does that mean..?" Max asked, looking at David in his peripherals. David shrugged. "I don't know. You'd have to ask (y/n)." 

Lucy seemed to pause before doing it again, and then again, but with decreasing intensity. She pulled her head back and blinked slowly, her eyelashes seeming to flutter. "Come on, Max. Let's take her to the pasture. She's probably hungry." David said, standing. Max, who had become entranced with Lucy, blinked out of it. "Y-Yeah.." Max slowly began to walk, shrinking in on himself when Lucy turned to follow. She walked slowly beside him, her head bobbing absent-mindedly. About halfway to the pasture, Max reached out slowly to pet her neck as they walked. He smiled, and Lucy kept her head down to his level. Before long he saw you in his peripherals-- holding rope gate open for him, smiling down at him. He tried and failed to conceal his smile as he walked her into the pasture. You taught him to take the halter off while David closed the gate and waited on the other side. 

When everyone had their horse set free in the pasture and exited, Max was beside you. You clapped your hands together. "Alright, who's hungry for lunch?"


End file.
